The Thassos Project
by OhMyWord
Summary: Bella Swan goes to Forks to bury a secret and meet the father she never knew. But what she discovers is not the quiet town she was hoping for. Some secrets can't be buried and in this case, hers just might save everyone.
1. Prologue: The Perfect Weapon

The Thassos Project

Prologue: The Perfect Weapon

"The world had teeth and it could bite you with them anytime it wanted. She knew that now."

- Stephen King, _The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon_

They were being taken for years and nobody noticed. The nomads were the easiest because they wouldn't be missed. They traveled in bands of two or three, if they were social, but most traveled alone. They stayed just outside of the cities; it made for a quick swoop in when they were thirsty. It also made it effortless to pick the nomads off. A well programmed newborn could grab at least two in a matter of minutes, oftentimes more.

In the beginning, when The Directorate was still learning, they tried to keep the vampires alive. But the myths people believed paled in comparison to what the vampires really were. They were strong, nearly indestructible. Many people died.

The humans learned their weaknesses fast, however. Fire was one, but it was impossible to get close enough to burn them. They could be torn to pieces, but there was that same problem – all that strength in one single body. It didn't help that vampire's bodies, after the tearing of a limb, can reassemble. That was really something to watch. There were other weaknesses, and it took years to find them.

Governments changed, passed the project down. It was called MK-ULTRA in the beginning. In the fifties people involved started calling it The Thassos Project, naming it after the white marble vampire skin resembled, and the name stuck.

The summer of 1962 was an important one, perhaps the most important in The Directorate's history. During routine reconnaissance, a group of four men and one woman witnessed the attack of a human girl through surveillance set up on a particularly active section of the Appalachian Trail. She was sixteen and alone, separated from her family. The vampire took her quickly; impatient or perhaps just very thirsty, paying no attention to how close it was to the trail.

It was interrupted midway through by a large group of backpackers. The Directorate did not know why the vampire fled, the large numbers most likely, but it did. The hikers, unfortunately for the girl, did not notice her bleeding out a couple of yards away in some heavy overgrowth.

Three days later, the girl stood up so fast her figure on the tape merely blurred. She was faster than any previous land speed time on record for a vampire. The Directorate called her the Newborn, some dubbed her Eve.

They tried to find her and succeeded, only to have the field agents murdered moments after their first capture attempt. The newborn was strong, stronger than any vampire they'd encountered.

…

In the late 60's, The Directorate captured its first vampire. They starved him in a stone cell for months until the man was weakened and blind with thirst.

The early attempts at changing a human were clumsy, resulting more often than not in death. They used the young man, but it proved to be very problematic. Scientists had to starve him enough to weaken him, but not enough that they couldn't remove a human before he or she was drained. After enough failure, they began using mass graves.

In 1968, they changed a 25 year old homeless man and found the vampires biggest weakness. A newborn vampire has little to no memory of its human life. In later tests, scientists found that if one kept the To Be Changed isolated long enough, their memory was wiped clean during the changing process.

And Newborns were stronger than vampires even a few years older. They were also bloodthirsty and easily influenced. The Newborn Vampire was the perfect weapon and by 1977, the U.S. government had itself an army.

In June of 1984, The Directorate used their crop of newborns to come after existing vampires, the ones that could not be controlled. They called it cleansing. The vampires called it genocide.

A well indoctrinated newborn was stronger, faster, and had one mission – to kill. It began with the nomads. In 2005, they began targeting the others.

Word spread among the vampires, but they had one more weakness – the rule of absolute secrecy. The penalty was death for any that showed himself for who they were with no exception. Most chose their speed, escaping to other cities, the forests, rural towns. Some fought, they died. The public in these cases believed what they were told. Of course, some conspiracy theorists shouted stories from the rooftops. But no one guessed the truth. With so many myths of the vampire, most created by the vampire, they choked on their own veil of secrecy. Vampires out during the day? Holding down jobs and attending church? Impossible.

But The Thassos Project overlooked one thing. There were others. There was more to the world than vampires. Was everything true? No, but the fairy tales and the monsters had their sources.

Salvation came in the form of someone not nearly as romantic or heroic as a fairy tale character.

Bella Swan was just one woman. One woman with a very big secret.

* * *

Author's Note: New story! If you're wondering about Gone Baby Gone, I have some news about that on my profile.

This is my very first vampire AU, so I'm really excited. Chapter One will be posted on Thursday and I'll put pictures up on my homepage (link in profile) in the next day or so.

Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it.


	2. One: Homecoming

One: Homecoming

Charlie Swan picked his daughter up from the airport on a Thursday, which was of course a work day. Bella did not overlook this and her awkward and distant affection for her mostly absent father ratcheted up a notch. Whatever progress they'd made however, did not carry over into conversational topics. The two spent most of the drive in silence.

He took her two suitcases from the trunk while she grabbed her lucky pack, which was really just a threadbare backpack that saw her through both high school and college. It was, or used to be, dark purple. Charlie eyed it before unlocking the front door. "Home sweet home," he said.

The door stuck a little because of the constant rain in the small town of Forks; it had swollen years ago and stayed that way. Charlie gave it a well practiced shove and it swung open. He let Bella in first, rolling her bags in behind him after.

Bella wanted to say it was just like she remembered, but she didn't – remember, that is. Her mother, Renee, left Charlie when Bella was a few months old, too much rain, she sometimes joked. Bella thought it was because she was strapped with a kid and a husband that liked his job and his cheap beer more than he liked her. Since then, Bella's communication with her father had been mostly done via Hallmark. Still, after the accident, when she needed somewhere quiet to escape to, he was there in a heartbeat. That had to mean something, she hoped.

"Care to take the nickel tour?" He asked, still standing in the foyer with her.

She said sure and he thought about it for a second, and then decided to drag her suitcases along behind him. There was a living room on the left, a small butter cream colored kitchen on the right, and stairs in between. He showed her the pantry/laundry room off the kitchen, fumbling with her bags. When she offered to help, he refused, saying it was the least he could do. It opened the seam of what could have been an angry conversation, but Bella left it alone.

Upstairs, his room was on the left, next to it was a room that mostly housed "miscellaneous crap", next to that was a good sized bathroom, and on the other end was her room.

"The purple was a guess." He looked chuffed by the statement and it wasn't until he blatantly looked at her backpack that she understood why. The bedspread matched her lucky pack.

She smiled.

He fiddled with her suitcases, pushing in the handles and lining them up parallel to each other. "We can exchange it if you want, but unless you like flowers I don't know if you'll find much else. Forks isn't -,"

"Purple's cool." She nodded and then because she felt a pull to do so, she said, "Thanks, Dad."

He grinned and Bella wasn't sure if it was because she said she liked the purple or because she called him dad. "Okay I'll just – leave you to it then." He knocked on her wooden doorframe once and walked out.

She pulled her hair back and then got to the task of unpacking, which didn't take long. Clothes in the dresser, toiletries in the bathroom, the hardest thing were the books. She had many. In fact, her second suitcase was more than half full of them. If Charlie noticed the extra heft, he hadn't complained. There were only two small shelves attached to the wall, which were soon filled to capacity. Her favorites, the three she was currently reading plus a couple more on her "to be read" list, went on the nightstand. The rest went on top of the dresser and the small table acting as her computer desk. She unpacked her laptop and added that as well.

When the bags were empty, she stuffed them in her small closet. After that, there was only one more thing. Bella passed the little orange bottle back and forth between her hands. _Lorazepam, for the treatment of anxiety and panic attacks_. It was still half full and the little pills made a muffled rattling as they rolled in her hands. She decided to put it in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, but at the last minute she dropped the bottle into her nightstand. _Close enough, just in case. _And besides, there was only one bathroom in the house and she didn't want Charlie to see them. He knew she had them, but knowing and having it sitting there next to your deodorant were two different things.

After she was unpacked, Bella changed into her favorite sweat pants and stood at the side of her bed. She was hesitant to leave her room, and she wanted to set up her laptop, but she doubted her father had WIFI. And by the look of the neighborhood, she guessed she was just slightly out of range to pick up someone else's. After deliberation, she went downstairs.

Charlie was sitting in the kitchen, Bella's other safe haven. "Oh," he said. "Get everything situated already?" He set his paper down and Bella saw that he was drinking a Coke.

"Yep, not much to it."

He shot her a little smile. "Sure felt like a lot."

"Yeah, my books…," she moved to the fridge. Her dinner options were sorely lacking, but after a quick rummage through the pantry, she saw enough ingredients for spaghetti. When Charlie said she didn't have to, she only shrugged, telling him she liked it.

In truth, she found cooking soothing. Normally, she'd turn on some music, but she knew that would be rude with her dad in the room trying very hard to be present. She liked the steps that went into making a meal - gather ingredients, mix this with that, heat, sear, fry, stir, bake. It left her calm and she was good at it. Tonight, however, she was anxious with her father at her back the way he was. She felt compelled to make conversation when what she really wanted to do was be quiet. Briefly, she thought of the pills in her nightstand, but not enough that she actually wanted one.

"So, I talked to Charlotte at the library yesterday and she said they could use a part-timer, if you're interested. If you want a little extra money for the summer…you don't have to, but I figured you'd get bored hanging around the house all day…,"

Bella looked over her shoulder and a smile perked the corner of her mouth. "The library?"

"Yeah, stacking books, stuff like that. It didn't sound that exciting to me, but…I know you like to read."

She nodded, her back to him again. "That sounds good…thanks, Dad," she said for the second time that day. She lowered the heat on the stove and pulled the strainer out of a lower cabinet.

Once dinner was ready, Charlie stacked his papers out of the way and got up to serve himself. Bella sat down while he ladled sauce over his spaghetti, moving to the chair on the opposite end from his. As she lifted her fork, she couldn't help but notice the massive stack of newspapers between her spot and Charlie's. She looked at the titles and frowned. They weren't newspapers after all, not really. He noticed her reaching for one and pushed them off the table so they fell with a heavy plop on a nearby chair.

"Oh…yeah," he laughed with some obvious discomfort.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "The Lone Gunmen?"

Charlie took a very long time spinning noodles onto his fork. Finally, he shrugged. "It's my thing."

Bella nodded, taking a bite of her food. She'd added a tiny bit of cayenne pepper to the sauce to give it a little kick. It was good.

"They're interesting is all, not like I believe everything they write." Charlie continued to explain. "It's just another point of view."

Bella nodded again, biting the inside of her cheek.

"Have you ever read one? You might like it."

This time she smiled. "Maybe I'll check 'em out."

He hmm'd at her. "This is good," he said, taking a large bite.

"Thanks."

…

After the dishes were cleaned and put away, Charlie retired to the living room to watch one game or another. Bella stayed in the kitchen, her gaze on the large stack of Lone Gunmens still half hidden on the chair. She grinned, picturing Charlie's flush.

Idly, she lifted the top one from the stack. Below the masthead it read: _What They Don't Want You to Know. _The front page article wasn't about the president adopting alien babies or certain government officials that may or may not be human, as Bella expected. Instead, and perhaps equally as ludicrous, it was about vampires and the government's attempt at controlling them. Bella's eyes skimmed over it anyway.

_Sources revealed the vampires are secluded deep underground in a bunker. There they are reportedly tortured, experimented on, and starved. "It's just like Mengele in there," one witness said._

_Vampires are not the only things being captured. Sources say that humans are taken as well, to be changed. "They keep the people in there and then they let the vamps bite them. It takes a while, you can hear the screaming for days, and then when they wake up, it's like – robot. A crazy, blood-thirsty robot."_

"See, told ya," Charlie said, startling the paper right out of Bella's hands. "Once you pick it up, you can't put it down." He tossed his Coke can into a blue bin.

Bella laughed, breathing carefully to slow her heart. "Yeah."

"Well, I'm headed up. I'm going in to work tomorrow…unless I should stay."

"No, no I'll be fine…I've got The Lone Gunmen to keep me company," she smiled.

"All right, g'night, kiddo."

…

Bella always had trouble sleeping, even as a child. Her mother did too, and they would sometimes spend the late nights together, sitting on the deck outside their Arizona home, and then later, Florida. She found herself already missing the warm nights and the sounds that came from living so close to the water. Washington was so much colder even now that spring was beginning to melt into summer. Still, a little after midnight, Bella crept out to the porch.

She closed the door until it started to stick, then left it, afraid to wake up her father. After a minute of sitting, she ran back inside and grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch. She wrapped it around herself and sat on the little white bench that was the only thing on the porch, her legs curled under herself.

It was just starting to rain, so light that she couldn't quite hear it yet. She watched it darken the pavement and wet the grass. By the time it was steady enough to be white noise, Bella was dozing off.

She dreamed, as she so often did, of Ethan. She dreamed of the first time he talked to her, touched her hand, the first time he kissed her. Before the memories became too happy though, it changed. Now it was what she could do, her curse that had started out harmless until it grew. She dreamed of hurting Ethan. She remembered it going too far, telling him to stop, trying to push him. There's screaming. _What did you do?_

Bella jumped, her heart pounding. There was a noise, she was sure of it, but on the edge of consciousness she couldn't tell what it was or where it came from. Her hands shook. She looked out at the yard, the street, and the forest beyond it. In the dark, she could only make out the shadows of trees, but she knew something was out there. _Am I watching it, or is it watching me?_

With the blanket around her body, she went inside without answering the question.

* * *

Author's Note: Hi everyone, thanks for reading! Pictures are going up on my homepage today, took me a few to find the right ones. I'll be adding more as the story progresses.

Also, I forgot to mention it before, MK-ULTRA (referenced in the prologue) was a real thing, though not what I made it. And unfortunately, I don't own or make any profit from The Lone Gunmen.


	3. Two: The Library

Two: The Library

Monday found Bella staring at the top drawer in her nightstand. Ever since the accident, the anxiety she had about anxiety was sometimes enough to send her over the edge. Her doctor told her once that after the first one, a panic attack can be brought on by the fear of having another one. She understood that often present fear of something just around the corner waiting for her to stumble upon it. Really, she could make it sound as deep as she wanted, but when she got down to it, Bella wanted a pill. Instead, she went downstairs and took a Flintstones vitamin. She picked them up on a grocery trip the day before.

Her father was at work already and had been for at least an hour. The chief's got to be the first one in, last one out, he told her. She couldn't help but admire the dedication, but she wondered just how much work there was to do. The only thing he'd mentioned so far was catching some taggers spray painting the side of an old warehouse. He said he was more worried about their safety than anything; the building was about to be razed if it didn't fall on its own first.

The only telltale signs of his absence was the missing holster in the foyer. Bella had noticed over the last couple of days that Charlie was very low maintenance. Living alone for so long taught him how to do so quietly and efficiently. It left Bella with very little to do. She found that being in the same house as her father was more like having a roommate you never saw.

Before that thought could go to the place in the pit of her stomach, she saw a note on the kitchen table in Charlie's familiar scrawl.

_Good luck on your first day. _

It was simple enough, but she was struck by the thoughtful gesture nonetheless. Acting on impulse, she put the note in her pocket.

Charlie was letting Bella drive his truck since he was most often in his police cruiser. It was a big red monster with a stick shift and no power steering, but she was glad for the freedom it represented. Not that she knew where she might go besides the grocery store and the library. She stalled once backing out of the gravel drive and once more at the stop sign on the corner.

The rain pattered on the windshield and rather than being depressed by what she considered its eternal grey, she tried to be calmed by the steady sound. She pulled into the library's parking lot after less than five minutes of driving. She thought she'd try walking someday soon, weather permitting.

Bella didn't bother covering her head to cross the parking lot; she was only four spaces from the front doors. She went inside and fought the urge to shake her hair out.

The library was small, one floor, with the circulation desk dead center. But it was clean and brightly lit and there appeared to be many quiet places to read. Despite the three other cars in the lot, Bella only saw one other human. She was lovely with a serene face and very pale skin. As she got closer, Bella noted the woman only got more attractive.

"Hi, I'll be with you in one – second." She said, raising her face and typing quickly at the same time. When she finished, she smiled. "Are you Bella?"

She nodded, trying to find her voice. She had never been intimidated by another woman's looks before, but found there was a first time for everything. She cleared her throat. "It's nice to meet you."

"I'm Charlotte, my husband and I sort of run things around here." She stood and extended a hand. "He's in the back; I'll introduce you in a minute."

Charlotte's hand was icy to the touch and Bella wondered if the heat was off.

"Poor circulation," Charlotte said. "I think I've been sitting in one place for too long."

Her husband appeared after a second, pushing a cart of books. "You must be Bella Swan; I'm Peter."

His hand was just as cold as his wife's. "Good to meet you, Peter, and thanks to both of you for the job. Kind of perfect timing for me."

"Likewise, you're really doing us the favor." Peter smiled, pushing a curl off his forehead. "Well, is it too soon to put you to work? I can give you the tour on the way."

Charlotte had Bella put her things behind the desk before she followed Peter to the back. In one far corner, she noticed someone working on a laptop. At a different table was an elderly man reading a newspaper.

"Fortunately, or unfortunately, this place happens to have more books than it can hold out front, so we keep the lesser used ones back here." He led her along a few industrial shelving units. "There's also some storage in here, cleaning supplies, a couple extra carts, paper for the copier, things like that. And a really small break room through that door, if you consider a mini fridge and a coffee maker a break room." He grinned.

He told her she would be doing a little of everything and that if she had extra time, there was always something to clean. "You're welcome to bring a laptop or something though. It really doesn't get _that_ busy here."

The pair went back to the main library and he showed her the layout. Everything current, he said, was on one side: newspapers, periodicals, computers, and audiovisual materials which were closed off to the rest of the room. On the other side were the books, including archives and reference materials. It was the side Bella gravitated toward.

After a while, Peter gave her a cartload of books to shelve and disappeared somewhere down an aisle. Bella did her work quietly, learning through trial and error the placement of all the books. A few people came and went, a couple asked her questions, but Charlotte was always around to answer them if Bella couldn't.

Near the end of her four hours, Bella stopped to find a restroom, which was the only thing Peter hadn't shown her the location of. Figuring her best bet was somewhere near the back, she headed in that direction. On her way, she saw that the door to the store room was open and she changed course to close it. Nearing it, she heard the voices of Peter and Charlotte.

"She's good, you think?"

They were talking about her and Bella couldn't help the pride she felt at Charlotte's compliment.

"Yeah, I think her being here will -,"

"Help us fit in."

"Exactly."

There was a pause in the conversation and Bella frowned, at a loss.

"We just have to remember to be careful…oh, and you're moving too fast, when you got up to help her that first time."

"I know," Charlotte said. "It's just been a long time since -,"

Without warning, the door opened fully, revealing Peter in the small space. He smiled. "Do you need something?"

Bella forgot all about the bathroom. "I just – wanted to let you know I was headed out."

"Okay," he paused. "You did a nice job today, Bella. We'll see you tomorrow." He smiled again and then shut the door.

…

On the way back to Charlie's, Bella made a turn too early. Despite the ease of the small town's navigation, she was still getting used to it. She drove down a street with small, starter style homes on either side. At the top, a woman was carrying a large plastic tub up the driveway. Must be moving in, Bella thought. She wouldn't have noticed her had it not been for the woman's hair; it was so blonde it was nearly white.

Once Bella was on the right street again, she saw a couple unloading cardboard boxes from a car. As she passed, the woman turned toward the red truck, smiling wide. Bella waved back. It was all very Stepford and she wondered if it was just a small town thing.

…

That night tree branches tapped on her windows and wind rattled the chimes on the back porch. But Bella didn't hear any of it because she was dreaming of that night with Ethan. She was either making things up or remembering, and in the morning she wouldn't be able to decide which.

There was power in her body that wasn't there before. It moved through her and pushed outward and for a second she was more afraid of it than she was of the man on top of her. In that same second, she realized that it wasn't the first time it had happened, it was only the first time she was hurting someone with it. She remembered the cool cotton of Ethan's t-shirt turned hot and then he wasn't on top of her anymore.

…

Friday morning dawned sunny and somewhere around 50 degrees. By the time she was out of the shower, Bella had forgotten her dream. In her bedroom, she picked a soft green sweater, lamenting her lack of happier looking clothes. She pulled her hair up and looked at the lip gloss on top of her dresser, but grabbed the balm instead.

Downstairs, The Lone Gunmen was open to a large, yelling headline: _Mass Exodus, Vampires Leaving the_…Bella didn't bother to read the rest.

The walk to work took barely fifteen minutes and the crystal clear air did wonders for her mood, which always hovered near melancholy. By the time she walked into the library, she had flushed cheeks and high spirits.

Charlotte was at the front desk and the elderly man with the newspaper was at his usual table. She smiled at Bella as the door opened. "Oh," Charlotte said, surprised at something.

"Morning," Bella said, pulling off one of the straps of her backpack. She swung it off her other shoulder and went around the circulation desk to set it underneath. The two women exchanged polite conversation and then Bella asked if she should find Peter in the back room. Her first week had been spent doing quiet work, stacking, cleaning, and the like.

"No, actually I thought you'd work with me today." She indicated the chair next to her.

As she sat down next to Charlotte, something prickled at the back of her neck.

…

Charlotte trained Bella on the computer system, which was a little out of date, but got the job done. There was only one computer, so Bella had to pull her chair awkwardly to see. In doing so, she noted that Charlotte had the nicest perfume she'd ever smelled on another person. She wanted to ask what it was, but didn't think it was an appropriate question.

When Bella turned to ask a work related question, she found Charlotte already looking at her. The closeness made Bella flinch, breaking whatever it was that passed between them. She opened her mouth though she felt the question already fading, when Charlotte spoke first.

"Excuse me a second."

She was gone for a while. Bella couldn't decide if she should take her place at the computer, or pull out a book. She chose the latter since there weren't any new people showing up. At 11:30, Peter came out from the store room.

"Hey," he said. "Sorry to leave you out here, but Charlotte isn't feeling well. I can take over for her out here, if you want to leave early."

"Oh, I don't mind staying if you need the help."

"No, that's okay. It's Friday, you should be out having fun or something." He handed Bella her backpack. "I'll see you Monday."

…

Had Bella been paying attention, she would have seen the clouds gathering all that morning. Less than five minutes into her walk, it started pouring. It only took a few seconds before she was soaked through and shivering. She crossed her arms, kept her eyes down, and walked faster. A few blocks from her father's house, a car whipped around a corner behind her. The silver blur hit a pothole nearby, causing the cold water to splash an already dripping Bella.

"Ass-hat," she said.

The car braked a few yards in front of her. Bella tensed, thinking absurdly that the driver heard her expletive even over the pounding rain. The car reversed until it was parallel to her spot on the sidewalk. She stepped back, thinking of every horror movie she'd ever seen.

The passenger window rolled down. Leaning toward it was the most handsome man Bella had ever seen in real life. "Do you need a ride?"

Bella opened her mouth, and then cleared her throat and tried again. "No thanks, I'm fine."

The man smirked. "Yes, my sister tells me the drowned rat thing is really in this time of year. Get in," he said. Realizing his demand, he added, "Please?"

Bella was still stuck on the phrase "drowned rat" when she reached for the door handle. At the last second, she stopped. "No, it's fine. I'm almost home."

"Please?" He said again, looking more tempting this time. "I feel guilty."

"You don't have to, really." She rubbed her arms and tried to keep her teeth from chattering.

"I could have probably had you home by now, you know."

She bristled at his persistence. "I could have had myself home by now."

The too handsome man rolled his eyes. "I can't leave you out here to drown."

"I can take care of myself."

"Then why don't you have an umbrella?"

Bella smiled without humor. "Thanks for the offer, but no." She nodded, signaling the end of their conversation. After taking a few steps away from his car, she heard the engine rev. He drove past her, this time much more slowly.

The exchange was short and left Bella more annoyed than anything else, but that night she dreamed of him. And the next morning, Bella wondered if she'd ever see the handsome stranger again.

* * *

Author's Note: Hi everyone, thanks for reading.

A few pictures are posted on my homepage, two are a little bit of a teaser since I haven't gotten there in the story quite yet.

And to be nice, for this chapter, reviews get teasers :)


	4. Three: Fishing

Three: Fishing

Charlotte was still sick come Monday. When she wasn't there on Tuesday either, Bella got worried and asked Peter how she was doing.

"She'll be all right. It's just some virus that's going around." He said.

She was back on Wednesday and in good spirits. When Bella came around the desk to put her things down, she noticed something different about Charlotte's eyes. "Oh," Charlotte smiled and looked away. "I got new contacts. Do you like them?"

Bella's first impulse was to say they were off putting, but instead she said they were pretty. And they were. The violet lenses made Charlotte's eyes striking. But Bella preferred the topaz, which was already an unusual color. She wondered if that was due to colored contacts as well and thought that her own brown was boring by comparison.

Charlotte had Bella stacking, filing, and working on the computers all morning. Bella thought she might like an update of what happened in her absence, but Charlotte didn't seem to need one.

At five minutes to noon, Bella was just logging off one of the library computers. Someone, or more than one someone, had filled it with spyware and it had taken an hour for the program to clean it off. She got up and turned around, anxious that day to get some lunch, when she saw the handsome stranger with the silver car. He was browsing the recent editions of Time magazine. His hair was the same mess she remembered and briefly, she hoped he would look up and recognize her.

He did and she promptly looked elsewhere. She skirted the edge of the room, feeling every bit a child. When she got to the circulation desk, she grabbed her backpack. "Hey, if you don't need anything else, I'm going to take off."

"Sure, have a good afternoon, Bella."

She thought she was home free until she looked at the doors and saw the stranger pulling one open to leave. She stood up straighter and squared her shoulders.

"After you -,"

"Thanks."

"-Bella."

She stopped one step beyond the doorway and had it not been for his quick reflexes, he would have run into her. When she realized that she had frozen, she moved out of the way, not that there was any foot traffic apart from the two of them. "How did you…?"

"Charlotte said it."

It made sense enough.

"Co-worker?" He started walking toward the few cars in the lot and further away from the entrance.

"My boss, but she's nice." Something in his tone made Bella want to defend Charlotte's character.

He hmm'd and Bella could have sworn she felt the vibration. "So, you're not Charlie Swan's daughter, are you?"

She frowned, asking again how he could possibly know that.

"Having someone new in town is a big deal when the population is a fraction over 3,100."

"Great." It occurred to Bella after a moment that he wasn't entirely correct. "I've seen a bunch of people moving in since I've been here though." She wondered if Forks was some kind of new hot spot.

Before he could answer, Bella noticed they'd strolled right up to her truck. She wanted to ask, yet again, how he could know which vehicle was hers, but figured she must have led them in the right direction. "Well, this is mine." She reached for the handle, unsure of how to segue into a goodbye.

"It was very nice to meet you, Bella."

She smiled. He wasn't so bad.

He slipped a hand inside his inner coat pocket and pulled out an umbrella. He grinned at her, "so you don't get caught out in the rain again."

She took it and watched him nod once before departing. It wasn't until a full minute later that she realized she hadn't gotten his name.

…

That evening, Charlie took Bella out to dinner. He'd caught her in the kitchen, a copy of The Lone Gunmen open in front of her.

_- reports are conflicted. One witness, who asked to remain anonymous, claims they are headed for sunnier climates because, "It's the last place they'd look." _

"Hey Bells."

She shoved the paper away from her in a very unsubtle maneuver. "Oh, hi, what's up?"

"I thought maybe you and me could go get something to eat. It's just the diner, but it's got some good stuff." He refolded the paper and sat it on top of the others. "Besides, you've been moping around here like a sad sack; it'll be good to get out."

"Yeah, sure, let me – did you just say 'sad sack'?" She didn't bother hiding her smile.

"What? I can say that." He frowned.

She got up, her laughter holding on by a thread. "Okay."

"I know how you kids talk."

Bella pushed her chair in saying, "I can tell." She didn't want to add that, at 23, she was hardly a kid.

"It's true," Charlie defended. "I'm even on the Facebook."

That knowledge stopped Bella in her tracks. A couple of minutes later she learned that Charlie was, in fact, on "the Facebook." His picture showed him in full fishing regalia as he held up a good sized trout. "Sam took that a month ago. He set me up with the whole thing. You'll have to meet him, good guy."

…

Charlie dug into his steak with enthusiasm while Bella picked at her soup and salad and kept looking at the rain out the window. They'd taken the truck and when he asked about her new umbrella, Bella lied and said she'd bought it after work.

"So, how's the town treating you? Is the library okay?" He asked between bites. He pushed his fork through a piece of steak and then scooped up a bit of baked potato. Charlie kept his eyes away from his daughter's, knowing that she was more apt to talk if he kept it casual.

"Yeah, it's fine, good. Peter and Charlotte are really nice." Actually, Bella was beginning to wonder why they hired her at all. It was never busy enough that her presence was absolutely needed and with school letting out, she doubted if it would get any busier. But she didn't want to ask because she liked being around the books and the quiet that came with the job.

Bella was most of the way through her meal before Charlie spoke again. "You know, I was at Newton's a couple days ago, needed some more bait and stuff…,"

"Mm-hmm."

"You know where that is? Right off the main drag? Anyway, their kid is home from school; he works there during the summer. Grad student now…,"

Bella looked up from her meal. "Yeah…,"

"What?"

"What?" She asked back.

He lifted and dropped a shoulder. "There aren't too many people your age around here. It might be, you know, good for you."

"I don't want to date anybody." Inexplicably, she thought of the handsome stranger. But she didn't want to date him either.

"I didn't say that, I wouldn't, not after – no, I just thought it might be a good idea to meet some people your own age."

"Peter and Charlotte are almost my age."

"Yeah, but they're your bosses, there's a different dynamic there."

They could both feel the conversation teetering off track so Bella agreed not to become a shut-in and Charlie promised not to push.

After dinner, the thought of going back home was making her antsy, so when another customer invited Charlie to the bar to watch the game, Bella jumped at the chance.

"I can walk if you want to take the truck." She said.

"No, no," Charlie's friend argued. "I'll drop your dad off. You take his P.O.S."

"Hey now, respect your elders." Charlie grinned.

"Are you kidding? I'm older than dirt and you know it."

Bella smiled, knowing the two were just getting started. She told her dad that she was going to take a walk around downtown before heading home.

She left the truck in the diner parking lot and started down the little main street on foot. It was quaint, she thought, lots of old-fashioned store fronts and buildings with personality. She looked in their windows though her mind wasn't on the things contained inside. Absently, she slipped her hand into the jacket pocket that held her new umbrella. She told herself she'd grabbed it from the truck in case it started raining again, but really she just wanted it with her.

_Don't be such a girl_. Bella pulled her hand from her pocket and walked inside the next store she came to. It was an ancient looking antique shop, filled with enough things that it was well past cluttered. There were rugs laid out on top of each other, enough lamps to light the entire street, and several glass cases containing an odd assortment of knick knacks and collectibles. Despite the many lamps, the store was dark and Bella had to lean close to see anything clearly.

She was looking at a row of pendants when she heard a distant rustling behind her, most likely the shopkeeper.

Though she knew he was there, the voice so close to her ear made her jump. "Ah yes, the pretty ladies always like the pretty baubles."

She spun to face him and was surprised to see they stood nearly eye to eye. And that his were black.

He smiled without teeth. "Sorry, I must be wearing my soft shoes today. Can we begin again? My name is Stefan and this is my shop, and you are?"

She took a small backwards step and started to introduce herself before she was interrupted.

"_Our_ shop." A second man emerged from the dark recesses of the back. He looked exactly like Stefan right down to the eyes. He tipped his hat. "Vladimir, pleasure to meet you."

She wanted to comment that Vladimir was a very unusual name for Forks, Washington, but they both made her too nervous to say much more than her name. "Bella, it's – nice to meet you."

The two men inched a bit closer. "Can I interest you in a pendant? Or something else?" Stefan asked.

"A necklace, perhaps?" Vladimir finished.

"Oh, I – I was just looking."

"Very well, we're here if you need assistance." Vladimir let her be; disappearing to somewhere she couldn't see.

Stefan stayed behind the counter with a book. She was surprised he could see to read in such low light.

Bella resumed her browsing, not quite ready to go home despite her unsteadiness in the company of the two men. While his eyes were always on his book, she began to get the feeling she was being watched. To lessen her anxiety, she tried to make conversation.

"You have some lovely antiques."

He looked up, marking his page with his finger. "Yes, just a few things I've come across over the years."

She looked at a shelf containing playbills from the 1800's and thought he looked old enough to have obtained them himself when they were new.

There was a trunk in the corner that kept catching Bella's attention. It looked heavy and very, very old. There were scrapes and chips on all sides and she had this sudden desire to run her fingers over it to feel the grain.

Stefan's pale hand grasped her wrist as she reached for the lid. "Just some old pictures, journals, nothing that would interest you."

Bella thought otherwise though she couldn't pinpoint why.

"Vlad says I should keep it in the back or up top in the apartment, but I like to have it here where I can see it all day."

Bella, unsure of what to say, nodded.

"Sometimes it's good to remember, no?"

Before she could answer, the door to the shop opened.

"Ah, Edward, how nice to see you again."

She turned around and came face to face with her stranger. She raised an eyebrow and he seemed to understand because he said, "Forgive me for not telling you sooner." He stepped up until he was between her and Stefan. She thought it was rude, the way he excluded her from whatever conversation they were about to have, so she stepped to his side. He gave her a look she was familiar with, annoyance and amusement.

"I thought you had dinner plans." Edward said to the man behind the counter.

"We do, out of town, but I was thinking an aperitif was in order."

"Stefan -,"

"Just a small one."

Edward stepped forward. Bella was sure he said something, but she couldn't make it out.

"Edward, you're so serious. I was only teasing." Stefan's mouth lifted at the corners. "A little _aperitif_ would do wonders for your mood."

He glanced at Bella. "I don't drink anymore."

Vladimir appeared at Stefan's side. "Well, your abstinence is inspiring. Shall we get going?"

The group shuffled out the front door where Vladimir locked it and pulled down a metal gate.

"It was so nice to meet you, Bella." Stefan said.

"Yes, please do come by again." Vladimir tipped his hat to her before the two moved off down the street.

Bella stood watching them for several seconds after they'd gone. They were perhaps the strangest two people she'd ever met.

"You look perplexed," Edward commented. She'd nearly forgotten he was there.

"No, it's – that was just -,"

"Vladimir and Stefan are an acquired taste."

"They're just – funny, the way they are with each other…but I guess if you've been in a relationship for that long, you're bound to pick up the other's characteristics," she mused.

Edward started laughing. She had never described someone's, especially a man's, laughter as beautiful, but it was. Bella didn't know what she'd said, but now she felt the urge to say it again. He smiled at her. "They're not gay, though they'd be very amused that you think that."

"They're not?"

"No, they're brothers. But they've lived together for a very long time, hence the sentence finishing and everything."

Bella hummed and then there was an awkward silent moment where neither knew how to segue into casual conversation. "Well, I should get home." She took a half step in the direction of her truck.

"Can I walk you?"

She nodded and he fell in step next to her.

"So, I must say, you do know how to get yourself into tense situations." Edward said.

Bella was confused at the comment, but before she could ask what he meant by it, she blurted out, "You mean like Repo Man?"

"What?"

She could feel him looking sideways at her. "Sorry, nothing – bad joke."

Questions popped into her head, anything that would shift the conversation to him, but Bella tended toward social awkwardness and so the things she wanted to ask stuck on her tongue.

Edward had no such problems. "So, how's the library?"

"Good, I like the work."

"And Peter and Charlotte?"

"They're very nice, I like them."

Edward made a quiet noise in his throat that Bella could almost not make out.

"What?"

"Hmm? Nothing. Do they keep you very busy over there?"

Bella thought about it. "Not really, actually. I have a lot of free time." She wondered about that again, why they'd hired her at all. After her initial morning tasks were finished, she often spent her last hour or so reading at the circulation desk or one of the tables. And then there was that conversation she overheard on her first day.

_"Yeah, I think her being here will -,"_

_ "Help us fit in."_

Bella didn't know what that meant, but nothing had happened and so she tried to leave it alone. By the time she was lifted from her thoughts, they were at her truck. She didn't question how he knew where she was parked, out loud anyway. She unlocked her door and stepped up into the cab. "Well, thanks for the walk. And it's nice…having your name now." She smiled.

They said their goodbyes and she closed her door. A second later though, Edward tapped on the window.

She rolled it down halfway.

"Bella, I wanted to tell you…," he seemed out of sorts, it looked unusual on him, but she didn't know him well enough to know if it was normal. "Just be safe, okay?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "Sure."

It was a simple enough request, but there was weight and meaning behind it that Bella speculated long after she left.

* * *

Author's Note: Hi everyone, thanks for reading.

Reviews get teasers again this week. I tried to get everyone last week, sorry if I missed you!


	5. Four: Curiouser and Curiouser

Four: Curiouser and Curiouser

There was something not quite right in the little town of Forks, Washington. The town was off in a way Bella couldn't put her finger on. It kept her up at night.

Late Thursday or very early Friday, was one of those nights. She looked at her nightstand and tried to see through it to the pills. She hadn't taken any since her arrival in Forks and wondered if that was why she was getting paranoid. It was possible. They kept her calm and stopped her from thinking of much of anything. Without them, Bella had too much room for extra thought.

When she rolled onto her other side and looked out the window, she decided that couldn't be it. Something _was_ weird in Forks.

The town, no, the people in the town, were an amalgam of overly private and too friendly. The women all waved at her and the men smiled and mowed their lawns on Sunday morning. Bella expected to see a milkman and a paper boy making the rounds on her way to work. But that was the other thing, there weren't any children.

…

_Bella saw the high school while going on an impromptu jog around the town. She wasn't athletic by any stretch of the imagination, but she'd read about all the happy chemicals that were released in your brain and decided that it couldn't hurt. Except that it did, hurt that is._

_ She'd made it out of her neighborhood, at least, before her brisk run turned into a brisk walk that turned into a slow stroll. And that apparently wasn't enough for a runner's high because she didn't feel anything but wheezy. _

_ The high school appeared in the distance while Bella was busy rubbing a cramp out of her side. It was a large brick structure, the kind of school where all the rooms are in one building. In Arizona and in Florida, Bella's schools were spread over eight or nine buildings. But this way, students only had to deal with the rain on the way in and again on the way out at the end of the day. _

_ There were no cars in the parking lot which was strange because summer school should have been in full swing. And besides that, there was always someone from administration around. Bella had left the house at one o'clock and it wasn't a holiday, so where was everyone?_

_ That evening, she asked Charlie._

_ "Oh, that – well, that's kind of a sore subject with some of the people in town. Forks just doesn't have enough kids for a school that size and what with the economy and all, the town decided it was best to close the school. The kids get bussed now unless they live on the reservation."_

_ "The city couldn't just – build a smaller school?" _

_ "Wish we could, but you know, times being what they are now and all. The seniors would have graduated a class of fourteen people had they stayed here."_

…

It seemed to Bella that there were people moving into the town every day, didn't that mean they brought their money with them? Forks should have been flourishing, unless there was something about it she didn't understand, which could have very well been the case.

Tree branches tapped on her window and Bella kicked off her covers despite the chill. She had to get a grip on herself. This was what she did, she made things up. Like that night with Ethan, she imagined that power. And all those other times, those times she'd thought of so often she couldn't tell if they were real or not. She was creating the extraordinary to justify her existence, that's what her doctor said. She had to find her balance, her place in reality where she fit in, her doctor said that too.

…

As was becoming typical, Friday evening found Bella sitting at the kitchen table ordering dinner. "Hi, can I get a large buffalo chicken pizza?...Hand tossed…," she smiled a greeting to her father when he walked in. "No, that's it…thanks."

"A large, huh? You must be hungry." He pulled on his jacket and checked his back pocket for his wallet.

"I'll leave the leftovers in the fridge for you."

"Are you sure? I know you can shovel it in when you put your mind to it." He grinned.

"Dad."

"All right, thanks kiddo." He checked his back pocket again. "I might be a little late tonight; Waylon got a new pool table he wants to show off."

"Okay, well, goodnight then…and Dad, congratulations for - you know."

Charlie smiled and his eyes crinkled at the corners, he nodded. "Thanks…goodnight." He spun his keys once around his finger and his chips jangled. He was getting another one that night, five years sober.

After he left, Bella picked up the newest edition of The Lone Gunmen. It was a weekly paper and she'd be willing to bet Charlie had every copy from the last year sitting around the kitchen. On the front page, above the fold, was an article about the U.S.'s shadow government and their efforts to incorporate the use of alien technology on the battlefield. On the third page was a picture of a man, about Bella's age, smiling for the camera.

_Riley Biers, pictured above, is just one of the many missing persons cases that have been covered up in recent years. Riley has been missing for nearly a year, but his parents refuse to give up hope. _

_ "He's a good boy, an A student, he wouldn't have just fallen off the map. Something happened to him and everyone is giving us the run around. All we want is to find our son."_

_ Authorities handling this case could not be reached for comment._

_ The Lone Gunmen will be running Riley Biers' picture, as well as pictures of other missing men and women, until they are found and their captors are brought to justice. _

_ The world has not forgotten them._

In the picture, he looked happy. The way he smiled made it look like he was laughing. Bella wondered what was happening when that picture was taken and who had made him laugh. She imagined his head tilting back, the sound full throated and carefree.

She set the paper down and closed it when the doorbell rang. She collected her pizza, paid for it, and took it to the living room. She had a scary movie ready to go that she reconsidered briefly, but then hit play anyway.

…

Bella looked at the television screen through her fingers. "It's in the baby's room," she squeaked. "Okay, I can't do this anymore." She grabbed the remote and turned off the movie before taking the leftovers and the trash to the kitchen.

Bella was jumpy and hyper and couldn't spend another second cooped up in the house all by herself. Instead, she pulled on her sweatshirt and shoes and walked outside.

Summer meant long days but she was surprised to see that it was still light outside, barely. The grey from evening was just beginning to darken into night and Bella thought it the perfect time to sit outside. She started to, but then found the bench wet from the earlier wind and rain so she settled with leaning against the newel post at the foot of the porch.

There was forest across the street and more beyond Charlie's backyard. It was so quiet she would swear that she could hear its slow creep as it tried to reclaim the land. Theirs was the last house on the street before it dead-ended in mossy trees, but if she looked to the left, she couldn't quite see the next house over either. Bella couldn't decide if she was comforted by the knowledge or not. After a quiet rustle in the bushes, she decided not.

There are some things that people plan. They know exactly what they want, where they will go, and it all happens just as they've foreseen. And then there are other things, things that change your life, that come from a completely idiotic bit of mental absence.

Bella walked across the lawn. She didn't even realize she'd done it until her shoes hit the pavement. There wasn't a sidewalk on that block, so she stuck close to the edge of the road, knowing that she'd hear a car long before they'd see her.

She was keyed up and thinking about her pills. If she'd just taken one, she'd be fine. Now her heart was beating too fast and her muscles itched to move. If she were anywhere else, Bella would be worried about being murdered in the street, but it was Forks and nothing happened in that town.

Bella walked south, toward the city center. She wondered what the Friday nightlife was like and if there might be any people walking around downtown. Before she could make it, however, she had to pass the high school.

The building's sharp angles loomed between the trees and Bella thought the vacant silhouette looked even more off putting in the dark. Vaguely, she felt the temperature drop and a tickle form on the back of her neck. She put her hand there, but didn't feel anything. Her arms crossed in front of her for warmth though she wasn't cold and she made a slow circle, looking for the source of her anxiety. _Maybe it's in your head_, _it usually is_.

Back at the top of her circle, Bella noticed something. It was a small side lot typically reserved for administration and mostly obstructed by trees. There were cars parked there. She walked closer, wondering if the building was vacant after all.

Bella counted a dozen cars, her father's rusty red truck among them. There was another car she recognized from the library, but she didn't know who it belonged to. She put her hand on its hood and felt no heat.

She crept further back along the building, looking for the light she knew would be there. _Probably in the back_. The shine from it illuminated a patch of damp grass just around the corner. It was one of those long classroom windows, the rows of which stretched the whole width of the room. It was bright, lit up with harsh fluorescents.

_You're really going to spy on his AA meeting? What the hell is wrong with you? _Still, she pressed her back against the wall and listened. The words were muffled, but she could make out the angry tones of her father's voice.

"- putting her in danger. You know the rules in this town. If you can't abide -,"

Bella couldn't make out the rest of the sentence. She heard what might have been an apology follow afterward. It was a woman's voice.

"I know you're trying, but it only takes one slip. That goes for everyone, we're safe here because we're disciplined… -,"

Someone else started talking and Bella couldn't understand them. She slid a few inches closer. _What kind of AA meeting is this? _When she still couldn't hear any more clearly, she moved even closer.

"Someone's here." A male voice said from inside. She heard a chair slide against the tile.

Bella walked backward, waiting for someone to look out the window. After four paces, she tripped. "_Shit_," she whispered. From a nearby tree, a branch snapped. She heard it fall, but couldn't tell where it landed. She backed up, struggling to stand. There wasn't enough distance between her and that classroom. When she heard the shake of leaves, her jog turned into a run. It was instinctual; she didn't know or care which direction she went, as long as it was away.

It was quiet as she neared the main parking lot. It was dark, but she felt safe again.

"Bella."

She gasped, but contained the scream.

Edward put his hands up and smiled. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to scare you."

"Well, you did." She put her hand on her heart and wondered what he was doing there. Had he been in the meeting? She didn't think she'd heard his voice.

"I was walking by and I saw you running. I thought I was going to have to defend your virtue or something."

"My virtue?"

"Or something."

"Right."

He shuffled; it didn't look natural on him. "You know, it's not safe for you to be wandering around here in the middle of the night."

"I can take care of myself."

"Then what were you running from?" He smirked like he'd gotten her.

From the main parking lot, you couldn't see the light from the meeting room so Bella said she hadn't been running from anything. "And what were you doing creeping around here anyway?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" She asked.

"If you can be running from nothing, I can be creeping around here for no reason too."

She didn't mean to, but she couldn't help the grin. She made a suspicious 'hmm' sound to cover it up.

"So, can I walk you home? I know where you live." Edward caught how weird it sounded, but not until after he'd said it. "I mean, the police chief – everyone in town knows where his house is, not just me."

Despite herself, when he started walking, she fell in step beside him. "Have a lot of experience with the chief, do you?"

"I've never broken any laws in Forks, if that's what you mean…not any important ones anyway."

She glanced his way from the corner of her eyes.

"I like to speed," he explained.

"I remember."

"I'm sorry again about that. Normally I'm more observant." He slid his hands into his pockets.

"It's okay, I dried." Bella didn't want to get to know him, she didn't want to get to know anyone, but she couldn't help herself. "So, what do you do when you're not creeping around abandoned high schools?"

"I just graduated – from college, not high school. I'm not sure what I'm doing right now to be honest. My father lives here, so I'm here for the time being. What about you?"

"The same, mostly. I have about a year left, but I needed a break, I guess." She was not about to get into great detail with a stranger.

"I understand that. It gets draining: go to class, take notes, write a paper, take a test. Especially when you've been doing it for a long time." He huffed a small laugh at some private joke.

They were quiet until Bella's house appeared. "I believe this is you." He walked her through the yard to the bottom of the porch steps.

"Thanks for the walk."

"Any time," he said. "So, do you think I could see you again? I promise I won't scare you or splash you with gutter water."

"Why?" She hadn't meant to say it out loud.

"I like you. I find you…amusing."

"Amusing?"

"Interesting, I mean."

"Interesting…," Bella couldn't seem to do anything but echo Edward's sentences.

"You aren't easy to read. I like that."

She didn't know what that meant, but she wasn't going to repeat him again. "Okay."

He smiled.

…

Charlie was climbing up the stairs as Bella left the bathroom. She rubbed the last bit of moisturizer onto her face. "How was the meeting?"

"Good, see?" He dangled his keys in front of him, his new chip displayed. "Five years, it's bronze."

"Awesome." She watched him walk down the hall. "Hey, Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Where are your meetings at?"

"The community center, it's right next to the Elk's, why?"

"Just wondering. Well, goodnight."

"'Night."

* * *

Author's Note: Hi, thanks for reading/recommending. I love hearing everyone's thoughts on this!

Reviews get teasers :)


	6. Five: The Reservation

Author's Note: There's some difficult subject matter at the beginning of this chapter, proceed with caution.

* * *

Five: The Reservation

"Ethan…wait." But he didn't wait, or pause, or slow down at all. His hand was in her hair and the pull made her scalp sting.

"No, Ethan, I don't want – I don't want to, Ethan -," he pushed his hips into hers as if it was the winning stroke in a heated argument. Bella's head ached from where he'd pulled her hair.

She said no again and he ignored her. Fear and anger blossomed into panic. He was too big, too heavy, his sweat stuck to her and she couldn't breathe. He groaned in her ear while his free hand pushed into her sweatpants.

Bella said please and he ignored her. She cried and cried out and yanked up on her waistband.

There was laughter coming from the hallway and then it was quiet again except for his panting in her ear. She felt him hard against her leg and her panic turned into something else. She put her hands on his chest and the _thing_ that started somewhere inside pushed outward. She shoved against him and then he was gone.

Bella thought he must have hit his head on her desk because he was so still. She pushed on his leg with her foot. His calf turned in and flopped back out again.

"Ethan?"

…

Bella's face was damp with sweat and in those moments between sleep and wakefulness, she thought it was Ethan's. She opened her eyes, but he wasn't there. She knew exactly where he was, in fact, and it wasn't Washington. Regardless, the first place she went was the shower.

…

Charlie was reading the paper – the actual newspaper and not The Lone Gunmen. He had a half empty cup of coffee near his right hand. He looked so normal. _He is normal; you're the one with problems. _

"Hey kiddo, what are you up to today?"

"Up to? Nothing, I don't know." She wanted to turn her back and move away from his line of sight, so she opened the fridge and hoped for eggs.

"Well, I'm going to watch the baseball game over at Billy's this afternoon. You should come along."

Bella knew he was making an effort and that she should make one in return, but selfishly, she didn't feel like socializing. "Um -,"

"There's going to be a bunch of people there, your age too. Billy's son is barbecuing, there's going to be a bonfire after." Charlie was hopeful. "I'm leaving at four, if you're ready, we can go, okay?"

She cracked some eggs on the edge of her pan. "…Do you think he'll make cheeseburgers?"

…

The longer the morning went on, the more Bella was bothered by the last night. And the more bothered she was, the more anxious she got. And the more anxious she got, the more she stared at her nightstand drawer.

It was really not a good day to go out with a handsome, slightly odd man that Bella thought was either lying about or hiding something. But she thought it was safer to be out with Edward than to be inside with her pills.

Why didn't she throw them away? She did, once. Then she pulled them out of her bathroom trash can. Maybe she didn't need to take them, but she needed the familiar rattle from the bottle in her hand. She'd toss them, some day.

For now, she had a post-lunch…thing, with Edward.

_"I should tell you – I don't really date. If that's what you're asking me on…," Bella could feel a ramble coming on that she wasn't sure she could stop. "I mean, I date – have dated. I just don't anymore. I was with – it was just…I'm not really looking to date while I'm here," she finished._

_ Edward's grin turned into a full smile during her little speech. "Okay then. Can you have male friends?"_

_ "I – yeah."_

_ "Good. So, we'll have a thing then, tomorrow?"_

_ "A thing?"_

_ "Yeah, around two? An after lunch, non-date thing, if that's acceptable."_

It was acceptable, at the time. Two clothing changes later, it was less so.

"Just stop it. It's not a date, it's a thing." She changed back into her first outfit choice and called it good.

Her father caught her at the foot of the stairs. "You look nice today."

The question layered under the statement was easy enough to read, but Bella played dumb and only said thank you.

"Meeting someone?"

"Oh, yeah, um, Edward? His dad lives here too, I think."

"Edward - yeah, his father's an ER doctor at the hospital. You're going out with Edward, huh?"

"We're not going out. We're just going to be out – together." She was going to add "platonically" to the end of her sentence, but decided it was a bad idea. The look on Charlie's face told her she was right.

"How well do you know this Edward person?"

"We've met a couple times, I don't know. I thought you said I should meet people my own age?"

She was right, he knew. "I just don't know the Cullen's very well is all. Be careful."

_His last name was Cullen?_

"You didn't know his last name, did you," he said.

"Of course I did. I've gotta go, I'll be back in time for the barbecue, okay?"

She heard him mutter something, but couldn't make it out.

…

"I don't think I can be your friend."

"What? Seriously?" Her iced tea glass stopped mid-rise and she looked over the rim with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. Because this is sad." He said. "How can you have never seen 2001: A Space Odyssey?"

"I'm sure lots of people haven't seen it."

"Would you like me to ask someone in here?"

"No." She reached for him, but he sat again before her fingertips could reach his shirt sleeve. "I've heard of it and everything, I just haven't seen it."

"You're missing out on some great cinema. HAL and Dave are just…," he shook his head.

"HAL is the computer, right?"

He gave her a look. "Yes," he paused. "'Open the pod bay doors, HAL…I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that…,'" he chuckled and Bella stared at him.

"You're…very strange."

"Sorry." He wanted to say that his social awkwardness was due to minimal interaction with people, but he didn't. Instead he asked her if not science fiction, what _did_ she like?

"I guess I like the romantics more, not only that, but mostly."

"Like When Harry Met Sally? Or Keats?"

"Both, actually." She took a sip from her glass. "'I'll have what she's having,'" Bella let out an indelicate snort and Edward laughed.

"You're cute."

It was an innocuous enough comment, but later Bella would wonder if he'd changed it to "that's cute" if she would have shut down the way she did. She smiled in a way that said she was uncomfortable with his attention. "It's a line from the movie."

"I know."

"Look, I thought this was just a – thing?"

"It isn't?"

"Not when you say things like that."

"Then I apologize for saying it."

"No, it's fine. It's – I'm sorry, I'm just going through a weird time right now and I think, I think maybe this is all just bad timing." She said. "I should probably go…,"

Bella pushed back her chair, trying to figure out why she was doing what she was doing. She had a few answers, but not anything she wanted to admit.

"Bella -,"

"No, it's okay." In a last ditch effort to escape without being completely rude, she asked him, "maybe some other time?" What she wanted to say was that she needed time.

To her, it appeared Edward understood without having to be told. "Of course. I'm always around to discuss cultural enlightenment or whatever else you have in mind," he smiled and she tried to smile back.

…

On the drive with Charlie to Billy Black's home, Bella admitted why she ran away. When Edward teased her she felt something she wasn't ready to feel. It scared her, not because of what he might do to her, but what she might do to him.

…

Billy's clapboard house sat on two acres, bordered on three sides by the kind of forest Bella would get lost in given the unfortunate opportunity. A short walk through the western woods led to the water. At the end of the dirt driveway was a garage and inside it, someone was bent over a car engine.

"There's Billy's son, Jacob, over there. And that's Sam and Emily over by the fire pit." Charlie braked in front of the old house and turned off the engine.

Bella heard Billy's voice before she saw him. "You're late old man; they just finished the National Anthem." He navigated his wheelchair onto the porch. "Well, I'll be – is that Bella?" His wide smile etched old lines into his face and Bella found herself smiling back despite her sour mood.

"Nice to meet you."

"Aw, we've met before, but you were a baby back then. C'mon inside, we've got the game starting, sodas in the fridge, and Seth is barbecuing out back."

"You let Seth near the grill?" Charlie said. They walked inside and he helped himself to a Coke, grabbing one for Bella as well.

"We moved it away from the house. It was either this or another driving lesson."

Charlie had explained that Seth's father had passed away a few years prior. Billy and Jake had taken on surrogate father and brother positions since then.

After a short while, the house filled with people. Bella noted that while some of the guys were her age, they didn't look it. The men looked similar, tan skin, tall and muscular, with watchful eyes and knowing expressions. And there were a lot of them. Bella found herself glued to her father's side all afternoon. She tried to pay attention to the game, but she felt those gazes on her instead of the television.

Later, the group settled around a large bonfire. The night was clear and the stars were out and Bella thought she'd never seen anything more beautiful. Billy was telling a scary story over the pops and cracks of the fire and she felt hypnotized by his smoky voice. Glancing around, she could tell the others were as well. Billy spoke of things that lived in the darkness, those creatures you fear as children and how they never really leave that shadowy place inside your mind.

…

"That's not true!" Seth said.

The one named Embry laughed, followed by the rest of the group.

"I'll tell you how it happened. I saw the trash cans by the curb, but Jake here wasn't paying attention. I told him I was going to hit them if I took the turn too tight," Seth glared at Jacob, who wasn't listening to the story. He'd been looking at Bella.

Seth elbowed him, a grin on his face. "I think someone has other things on his mind."

Jacob elbowed him back and told him to shut up.

Bella whispered that she was going to get up and stretch her legs. She figured it was safe enough with all the men paying attention to the story telling instead of her. She moved away from the bonfire while Seth continued to defend his abilities as a driver.

A couple dozen yards from the group, Bella's thoughts trickled in again. She rubbed her arms and watched the mental playback of Charlie lying to her face. If his AA meetings were at the Community Center, what was he doing at the school? What was he keeping from her?

At the sound of crunching leaves, Bella turned around. "Oh…Jacob, right? Hey," she said.

He kept his distance, and his crossed arms told her he wouldn't be warming up any time soon. "Hey -,"

"Um, thanks for inviting us. This was fun."

"I didn't invite you, my father did." He moved in closer. "You know, you already smell like them."

Bella was too surprised by the comment to be offended.

"I'm here to tell you this will be the last time you set foot on this reservation and if it were up to me, your father wouldn't be welcome either."

"I – what? I thought -,"

"The treaty and Billy are the -,"

"Treaty?"

"Yeah, and by that stench it's pretty clear which side you're on."

Bella stepped away and felt the truck against her back and a huge blank space in what she knew and what she was supposed to know. A faster thinking part of her mind wondered if she should play along to gain more information. Before she could, another man appeared beside Jacob.

"Hey…I apologize for Jake here," he directed at Bella. "C'mon," he shoved hard at Jacob's shoulder.

Bella turned to go back to the bonfire, but stopped, realizing there wasn't a single person she'd met in Forks that wasn't hiding something from her. During that pause in her step, the breeze carried over a piece of Jacob's conversation with the other man.

"What's wrong with you, Jake? "

"What? She -,"

"No, she's an innocent. She doesn't know anything."

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks for reading/reviewing/recommending :) You guys make my day.

Okay, I think I'd like another pre-reader if anyone is interested. I like having two different people to bounce my thoughts/paranoia off of. If you'd like the task, please message me (I can't keep it straight if you leave the offer in a review), and I'll let you know a little more of what I'm looking for. Thanks in advance!

Reviews get teasers!


	7. Six: Research

Six: Research

Bella woke from a nightmare at four o'clock Monday morning. She sat up and a faint breeze from the open window made the sweat on her brow feel cold.

She looked across her room and knew that the shadowed jacket in her rocking chair was really a man. He'd been sitting there, watching her slip right to the edge of sleep. She knew he could see her now, hear her breathing, and feel her heartbeat.

She reached for her lamp switch, her eyes still on the rocking chair. She flicked it on and the only thing in the chair was the rumpled and too large jacket she'd found in the front closet.

Bella fell back against the headboard. "Okay," she breathed. "Okay." _Not__ everything__ in __the __shadows __is __out __to __get __you._

The pills would make the shadows recede. Already, she could feel the cool grey nothing of fully medicated sleep. The nothing felt good sometimes. Bella rattled the little cylinder, softly at first, and felt the way it turned in her hand.

…

Charlie was a light sleeper by both nature and necessity. Though not the chief of police of a larger and more crime ridden city, Forks had its moments. And over the years, he'd been called out in the middle of enough nights to be alert at the first shrill beep of his pager or ring of the phone.

At 4:27 a.m., he awoke to the soft creak of a floorboard under his daughter's feet. When she didn't return after a few minutes, he turned over to listen more closely. He knew she'd gone downstairs and now he wondered if his own sporadic insomnia had been passed down to her.

At half past 6, Charlie found her where he thought he might – standing in front of the coffeepot, paper in hand. "You're up early," he said. He saw that her laptop was open on the table, the screensaver running.

"Yeah." Bella stepped away so Charlie could reach for his mug. She plopped down into the closest chair.

"Did you want some of this?" He noticed the pot was still full.

"No, I just like the smell."

"All right then." He poured a generous cup for himself and took a long drink to cover the awkward silence.

Bella looked exhausted. She'd been strange the last few days and now she was getting up in the middle of the night. He wanted to ask what the problem was, but he knew that Bella wouldn't do or say anything until she was ready. Until then all he could do was pay attention. If it got any worse, he'd recruit help. No, he changed his mind, he couldn't do that.

Bella sat in her chair, watching her screensaver cover what she'd been reading and waiting for her father to leave for work. She tapped her fingers on the table once and then stopped.

Charlie cleared his throat. "Well, I better be heading in. I'll see you tonight, Bells."

Once he was gone, Bella tapped the space bar. There were several tabs open: a census history of Forks, one of the Quileute reservation she'd visited with Charlie, and the archives of Fork's newspaper.

Prior to 2006, the small town had a population of a little over 3,100 people. After 2006, the population shot up to more than 3,500. That was 400 people in one year moving to what was basically a small logging community. And it was still growing, as of 2010, there were just under 4,000 people. Forks had grown by almost a third in those four years. And none of these people had children and the local economy was so bad they had to close the high school. None of it added up.

She switched to the newspaper archives. It went back to 2005, but the early scans were poorly done and difficult to read. Bella found the papers from 2006 and started reading.

There were articles about fire watches, farmer's markets, tourism, and high school sports, but nothing that would explain why Forks had become the place to be. She started skimming sometime during the summer editions until she came across a large, yelling headline for June 18th: _Fork__'__s__ High__ Student__ Missing._

In the first article, it said that Chris Newton, son of Billy and Karen Newton, went missing sometime during the night of June 16th. He'd been seen early in the night at a graduation party with friends, but not a single person could remember seeing him at the end of the night.

Charlie was quoted as saying it was too early in the investigation to make any assumptions.

The news of Chris Newton continued to make the front page for several weeks, but as time went on, the articles got shorter and more hopeless. They'd done searches, but because Newton was 18 and there was no sign of foul play, there wasn't much more they could do. For all anyone knew, he'd walked away from that party and taken off. After a while, the articles disappeared altogether.

Chris Newton's graduating class was the last. In early August, the high school closed down for good.

…

Work was impossible. If Bella couldn't trust her own father to tell her the truth, who could she trust? Charlotte sensed Bella's distraction and put her to work dusting and polishing the shelves. She worked blindly, Chris Newton's face in her mind. The paper printed his senior yearbook photo. He would've been about Bella's age, if he was still alive. Bella had a feeling he wasn't.

Peter smiled at her a few shelves into her morning.

_What __are__ you__ hiding? __What __are __you __all __hiding?_ She thought behind her smile.

That morning, she'd skimmed the archives well into 2007 and noticed something else strange. Forks rarely had bad news, but after 2006, there was none at all. No reported break-ins, domestic disputes, or simple teen pranks. Even the police blotter disappeared after a while. According to the paper, Forks was crime free.

…

At a few minutes after noon, Bella found herself parked in front of Newton's Olympic Outfitters. She had an excuse, though somewhat thin, for being there. She got out of the car and felt the raindrops soaking through the hood of her jacket.

The store was spacious and because of the concrete floor, the slightest sound echoed off all four walls. Mike Newton heard her coming before he saw her.

Mike was a nice guy in the invariable nice-guys-finish-last way, though not for lack of effort. In middle school, the girl he declared his girlfriend cheated on him with the boy that had the detention record in his class. Though cheating at the time meant she sat with him at lunch instead of Mike. In high school, his first real girlfriend told him he was boring.

After his brother disappeared (for Mike would never utter any derivative of the word "dead" in relation to his brother), Mike stopped thinking about girls. He dated a little, but women found him distracted and closed off.

In reality, Mike Newton was a romantic in the traditional and sometimes embarrassing to admit sense. It was a fact displaced by him until a certain dripping brunette walked into his family's store.

In an effort to be nonchalant, Bella wandered toward a far aisle. There were backpacks, for humans and their pets, and other assorted hiking gear. She was looking at water bottles when Mike's footsteps caught her attention.

"Hi there, can I help you find anything?"

She fought the automatic urge to say that she was just browsing and instead said, "I was thinking about getting something for my dad, sort of a thank you type thing."

"A thank you gift?" He asked.

"Yeah, my dad's Charlie Swan? He's letting me stay with him for the summer."

"Oh, you're Bella? When the Chief said you looked just like him, I pictured…something different." Mike was pleased at being incorrect. "I'm Mike," he stuck out his hand, "I'm staying here for the summer too." He was pleased by that as well.

"Charlie mentioned you the other day. There aren't really many people my age around here." This was the part where Bella was supposed to segue into a conversation about Mike's brother, but she was finding it more difficult than she thought. She wanted answers. She just wasn't sure if it was worth bringing up what might still be fresh wounds to Mike Newton.

"He mentioned me?" Mike grinned. He had genuine affection for Chief Swan. He remembered too clearly the summer his brother went missing and how determined the Chief had been to find him. He didn't know for sure, but he had his suspicions that his brother's case led to Charlie Swan's sobriety. In a town that small, his drinking had been no secret. But Forks was loyal to their own and had looked the other way. Nonetheless, the chips on Charlie's key chain were a welcome relief to everyone.

Mike led Bella toward the fishing gear where, out of guilt for what she was doing to him, Bella spent most of her paycheck.

"So," she said. "I was wondering – is there anything to do around here?"

He readjusted a fishing rod and grinned. "Not really, most people go to Port Angeles, sometimes Seattle." He was debating on whether or not asking to take her on a tour of the former was too forward, when she spoke again.

"Yeah, I've kind of noticed there's not much for people our age to do." She said. "Actually, I noticed there really aren't any young people around here at all."

"Yeah, lots of aging loggers and families with grown children." He was still playing with the various fishing gear, trying to work up his nerve.

She cringed at what she was about to say. _I__'__m__ sorry,__ Mike_. "Weird, isn't it, how they closed the high school?"

His hands went back to his sides. "Yeah, I guess."

Bella cleared her throat. "I've been wondering why that is."

"Um, yeah – I don't really know…," he said. "I graduated the year before so," he shrugged. His brother's class had been the last. He'd often wondered if Chris's disappearance had something to do with it; the coincidence was too strange to dismiss.

Chris had been so happy to graduate from Forks High. He'd been recruited to play college football in California, but wanted to spend the summer in Forks with his friends and Mike, who'd come back. He was social and friendly. Mike teased him for being naïve, but in truth he wasn't far off.

Maybe he'd left the party to drive home a friend that had too much to drink. Maybe he'd gone outside to get some air. Maybe he'd had too much to drink himself and decided to walk home, and on the way he passed by the wrong person…

Bella watched Mike's memories pass over his face with regret. She decided she'd find another path to the answers she was looking for, anything to keep from making Mike as upset as she knew he was getting.

"So," Mike said, brightening his expression. "Should I ring you up for all of this then?"

Bella smiled softly. "Sure."

…

Mike helped Bella cart out and load her purchases into the bed of her truck. He made small talk and when she leaned over and her hood fell over her eyes, he pushed it back for her.

"Thanks," she said.

"Yep." He glanced over at a truck, not unlike Bella's, pulling into the parking lot. He waved at the passengers and then nodded at Bella. "See you around."

He jogged under the overhang before Bella could say goodbye. She shoved the tailgate up on her truck and looked over toward the other customers. The man was tall and broad, with short hair and tan skin. The woman had sleek black hair and stood more than a head shorter than her companion. She also had an aging scar on her face that Bella remembered.

"Hey there," Emily said. She smiled, "small towns, right?"

"Hi, Emily," she smiled at the both of them, trying to remember the man's name. They'd all looked so similar that night. "Good to see you again."

The man looked at the bed of Bella's truck with surprise. "You fish? Charlie never mentioned that."

"No, I'd probably hook myself. This stuff is for him, sort of a thank you for letting me stay here this summer."

"He loves having you; you two have a lot of catching up to do." He stepped back. "Listen, I'm glad I ran into you. I wanted to apologize for Jacob's behavior at the barbecue -,"

She wanted to say it was no big deal, but it was.

"- he's going through a hard time right now and he's taking it out on everyone. No hard feelings?"

Bella shook her head. _No__ hard__ feelings?_ "Of course not."

…

Charlie loved the gifts. He told her it was too much, but his eyes were bright and his smile wide. He said thank you and treated her to dinner and he wanted to give her a hug, but wasn't sure how. Instead, he paid the bill and pulled out her chair and opened her door. She smiled back, but even he could tell she wasn't entirely there. He thought perhaps he was trying too hard.

He told her about old fishing trips and she listened and asked questions and tried to play the role of good daughter. _Good__ daughter__ to__ a __lying__ father__ in__ a__ secret__ keeping __town._

That night she took a pill and prayed that when she woke up, the last few weeks would have only been a dream. Instead she had a nightmare of something with glowing eyes and glistening teeth climbing in through her window. It had a silent step, but she could hear its soft sniff near her hand. She kept it still, kept her whole body still. Go away, she thought.

Bella felt a puff of air on her elbow, her shoulder, and then her face. _Go __away_. She smelled something strange and acrid, but she kept her eyes shut tight. _Go__ away,__ I __don__'__t __know __anything!_

When she woke up, her window was open.

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! And thank you to my pre-readers jedigirlsc and katmom! They make this better :)

So, it's Halloween time again and that means a new update to the Roslyn House series! The new story will be added as a chapter; you can read it on its own, but it makes more sense if you read Roslyn House from the beginning. Anyway, it's called Parson's Hospital and I'll post that next week if you're interested :)

Reviews get teasers!


	8. Seven: Under Review

Seven: Under Review

The cold sweat on her skin made Bella feel feverish, she pushed some hair away from her face and felt the breeze from the open window. Had she left it that way? Her memories were fuzzy. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. There was a knock at her door, but her croaking answer was inaudible to anyone but her.

"Bells? Are you okay?" Charlie turned the knob slowly in case his daughter was indisposed. "I'm coming in…," he felt like a hostage negotiator.

"Yeah," Bella said again.

Her eyes were puffy and Charlie could see the sweat at her hairline. Any other time, he'd guess she'd been crying, but he would have heard that, he thought.

She looked like she hadn't slept, but when he glanced around, the half closed pill bottle stood in relief on the dark brown nightstand. He knew she had them and that her doctor believed she needed them, and he hated that. Charlie thought about flushing them down the toilet, but that would erase what shaky ground he'd gained with her. He knew how it worked. She'd have to be ready.

Fortunately, the bottle looked about as full as it did when she'd arrived. Charlie was ashamed to admit that he'd found it one evening when Bella was downstairs watching television during her first week in Forks. He wasn't one to spy, but he was afraid that his own weakness was something he'd passed down.

"Are you okay, Bells?"

"Yeah, some trouble sleeping."

He nodded. "Just wanted to let you know that it's after seven, I'm headed into the station."

…

Charlotte noticed Bella's tired eyes and wondered what was wrong, but knew it was rude to inquire about something like that. Peter, on the other hand, had no such knowledge of etiquette.

"Are you coming down with something?"

"What? No, I don't think so." He was the second person after her father to comment on Bella's appearance. Apparently, her concealer hadn't done its job. But it wasn't just that, she knew. Everything right down to her bones was weighed down by this thing that everyone seemed to know but her.

It wasn't some idle town gossip or drama cultivated by bored housewives either. It was one thing Bella knew for sure. Whatever this secret was, it was dangerous.

Bella stacked books, cleaned shelves, and wiped down computer keyboards, but her mind was miles away.

What else did she know?

She knew people were moving to Forks in droves. They had no children, were always polite and friendly, but kept to themselves. She saw some of them sometimes, walking down the street or in and out of shops. It occurred to her then – where she didn't see them. Socializing in restaurants, pushing carts in the market. Did that mean something?

Bella thought of something else then, the way she was able to separate them. Sure, she saw people in her father's favorite diner, bumped into neighbors at the grocery store. Neither was ever empty. But _these_ people weren't _those_ people.

Those people were quiet, distant, and most obviously, extremely beautiful. Not in the way most people are beautiful, but in the way one might say a model was beautiful. Those people were _striking_, that was the better word for it. Sharp cheekbones, willowy limbs, a strong jaw, and glossy hair. They were all different, but the same. And they were all very, very pale.

Peter and Charlotte looked like those people.

_"__Yeah,__ I __think __her __being__ here __will__-,__"_

_ "Help us fit in."_

_ "Exactly."_

How? Bella wondered. She thought of her dark eyes and artless movements. Maybe it was something else. On a tangent, she thought of what she did to Ethan. _Maybe__ I __straddle __a __line__… _But had she truly exhausted all the normal possibilities that she had to consider the supernatural? She moved on.

Charlotte caught Bella's gaze and smiled. She'd switched back to her regular eye color, Bella noted. The muted gold, topaz, suited her better. The violet had made her already arresting face too striking.

Peter leaned over Charlotte's chair and said something to her. After a second he glanced up and grinned a hello to Bella. His eyes were topaz as well. That was strange.

After a few minutes of wiping keyboards with a cloth, Bella thought of her night at the reservation. All of the men, all of the ones her age, looked the same too. They were young, tall, with short black hair, and fiercely strong bodies. They'd intimidated her that night in the small house. Emily's fiancé, Sam, she finally remembered, had been the most welcoming.

He'd been the one to pull Jacob away at the end of the night. He'd been the one to call Bella "an innocent."

And what was the treaty? Which side did Jacob think Bella was on? If there was no treaty, how would things be different?

Bella sat in front of a computer. She had too many questions and too few answers. Behind her, a throat cleared.

"Why so weary?"

Bella looked up and saw Stefan standing over her. Why did she never hear him approach? His eyes were gold, but something about them made Bella smile. He was one of them; he was strange. But he didn't appear to hide it.

"Hard time sleeping lately."

"Troubled sleep means a troubled mind." He nodded, as if agreeing with himself.

Bella wondered where Vladimir was. "Something like that." She thought of something else and voiced it before keeping it to herself registered as a good idea. "Your eyes are different."

Stefan said nothing.

"S- I'm sorry. I don't know what that meant…,"

He waited to see if she'd say anything more. "You're a very bright girl, I hope you know that," he said. "Whatever brought you here, I think, was meant to bring you here."

Bella watched him. The bright light cast shadows under his eyes and in the hollows of his cheekbones. Normally, she'd find him frightening, but now she could feel some struggle. Whether it was his or her own, she wasn't sure. He let go of his hands that had been clasped behind his back.

"I find that whenever I can't see something, turning on a light works wonders."

"What -,"

He was out the door before she could finish her question.

…

Bella didn't notice the book until she was gathering herself up from the chair. It was a large hardback, with a gold embossed picture where the title should have been. She picked it up, wondering if it was Stefan's doing. On impulse, she lifted the cover.

_Bella,_

_ I find Tiffany lamps have always been my favorite._

_ Stefan_

…

With the book in Bella's lucky pack, and the pack on her shoulder, she debated where to go next. She knew Charlie wouldn't be home for hours yet, but she thought somehow he'd know what she was doing. The irrationality of it all made enough sense to her that she took herself and the book to the park. But it had turned chilly outside, so she kept her doors locked and stayed in the truck's cab.

It was a book of Quileute legends, but after reading the first few chapters, Bella wasn't sure of its relevance. It seemed to be about ancient tribe members that could shift their bodies into those of wolves to protect the rest of the tribe. Bella read on, blaming her lack of sleep for the threads that weren't coming together.

The second section was called _Origin__ Stories._It was more of the same. She started with a chapter called _Spirit__ Warriors_. A part of her, and she wasn't sure how large a part, believed the stories, and felt guilty for flipping through them so brazenly. After all, if _she_ existed, surely this could too?

_It __was __more__ frightening __than __exhilarating __to __be __freed__ from__ one__'__s __body._

Something about that line made her shiver.

_They__ called __it__ The__ Cold __One, __the__ Blood__ Drinker,__ and __lived __in__ fear __that __it__ was __not __alone._

There were kids playing chase in the park. They squealed in delight until the light drizzle turned into a steady rain and their parents called them inside. She imagined hot chocolate waiting, happy normal things that didn't exist in her world.

_The__ Cold__ Woman__ was__ the__ most__ beautiful__ thing __human__ eyes__ had__ ever__ seen.__ She__ looked__ like__ the__ goddess__ of__ the__ dawn __when__ she __entered__ the__ village__ that __morning;__ the__ sun__ was__ shining__ for__ once,__ and__ it__ glittered__ off__ her__ white__ skin__ and__ lit__ the__ golden__ hair__ that__ flowed__ down__ to__ her__ knees.__ Her__ face__ was__ magical__ in__ its__ beauty, __her__ eyes__ black__ in__ her__ white__ face._

She read the paragraph again and felt a familiar prickling on her neck. The next chapter was called: _The __Cold__ Ones_.

Bella closed the book, as if hiding the words would keep them from being true. But of course they weren't true. Cold Ones and people that turned into wolves and a woman that could stop a man's heart with a single touch. Things like that didn't exist. They couldn't.

…

_"__Bella, __baby, __are__ you __sure __you __want __to __do __this?__" __Renee __wrung__ her__ hands __together __in __her __lap. __She __hated __hospitals. __They __were __such __sad __places; __she __hated __the __way __people __had __to __cry __under __those __bright __lights. __Loss__ was __too __private __a __thing._

_ "Yeah," Bella said. She pulled on the door handle. "Why don't you wait here?"_

_ Renee said that she would. _

_ The heels of Bella's boots clicked on the fading tile until it was the only thing she could hear. They echoed and the blood pounded in her ears and she thought the nurses would stare, but they paid her no mind. She followed the numbers on the walls until she came to his: 317. _

_ There __were __cards __and __flowers __on__ every __available __surface. __Ethan __was __a __popular __man. __She __read __the __front __of __one __of __the __cards._ Get well soon! _It__ read._

_ But he wouldn't get well soon; he wouldn't get well ever. The doctors called it a persistent vegetative state. They had no name for what happened; one thought it was similar to a massive stroke. One thought it was some kind of heart attack. When the EMT's arrived on the scene, Bella's frantic chest compressions were the only thing moving his heart. One of them said it was like his entire body had shorted out._

_ His parents were keeping him on life support, hoping for a miracle. _

_ She sat in the lone chair next to Ethan's bed. His blanket was a blue knit, the kind that been through the wash too many times. On the opposite table was a stuffed bear. The fuzz had been loved off and it was missing an eye, a relic from childhood no doubt. _

_ "I wish I'd known you back then," Bella said. She wanted to know him before the flash of cruelty in his eyes, before the selfish and unrelenting demand for her body, and before she ended his life. But, he'd ended hers too. _

_ "I'm going to stay with my dad for a while. I think I need to – sort some things out." She wiped a tear from her cheek, and then another. She wanted to yell and scream and tell Ethan it was all his fault. She wanted to say that she hated him. But she didn't, not entirely. _

_ Because what happened to him - she'd done that. _

_ She was different, she'd always known that. But this was the first time she'd ever felt inhuman._

_ And yet, "I'm sorry I did this to you."_

…

There was a knock on Bella's window and she looked out, clutching the book to her chest. Edward stood outside her truck in the rain, his hood pulled up. She rolled her window down and felt the drops of water that swept inside with the wind.

"Hey, are you all right?" He looked honest and concerned and like he wasn't hiding or lying about anything.

Bella looked up, her eyes tired and red, and realized that she missed him. It hadn't been many days, but when she asked for time, he'd given it to her. And then he'd shown up when she needed him and didn't even know it.

She looked at him. With his hood up and his face shadowed, she could only see his eyes. They were a muted gold, like topaz.

"What are you?"

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks to my pre-readers (you make it better) and my present readers (you make it worth it).

So sorry about the lack of teasers/Roslyn House last week. I was pretty unexpectedly called out of state and I just got back. Anyway, if you're still interested, I can finish up the last of the RH update, let me know.

Reviews get teasers, for real this time.


	9. Eight: Hot Seat

Eight: Hot Seat

Edward heard her clearly, but it was reflex to ask what she'd said.

Her eyes were wide, realizing only then what she asked him. "-doing here? What are – you doing here, I mean."

It was such an obvious lie, but she looked so disheveled and upset he didn't have the heart to call her on it. "I was at the bookstore down the street," he held up a bag, "and I saw your truck. Are you all right?" He repeated.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

He gave her a look.

"Just a hard day." She forced a smile.

_What __are__ you?_ He heard it again as clearly as if she'd repeated the question. There was a moment in there, when he watched her wipe under her eyes, where he wanted her to ask him once more. He wanted to touch her face and let her feel the ice of his fingertips. He wanted to tell her and show her and some other part, some animal part, wanted to take her and really show her. _Do__ you__ see __what __you__ do __to__ me?_

Edward cleared his throat. "Would you like some company?"

Bella's automatic answer to most invitations was no, but she found herself nodding anyway.

…

The front door was stuck firm. Normally, Bella might push her shoulder into it, but she had a sharp awareness of Edward standing behind her, watching. She huffed and smiled, "the wood is a little warped."

"May I try?" He stepped forward and Bella noticed that he smelled like fresh laundry and something light and sweet, an odd scent for a man. But it was good and in the same second she thought it odd, she also wanted to press her face into his coat.

"Here," he said.

She hadn't noticed that the door was standing open. "Thanks."

As they stepped inside, Bella thought of the kids playing in the park and how their parents had called them home when the rain turned heavy. Happy, normal things for the handful of children that existed in that town. "Hot chocolate?" She asked, already walking to the kitchen.

"No, thank you."

_Oh__ that__'__s __right, __those __people__ don__'__t __eat._ She turned to the cupboard and made a face at her own thoughts. Some part of her mind was moving faster than the rest of her. She pulled down a mug and then a small pot from a lower cabinet. "Have a seat." She filled the pot with milk and grabbed a glass jar of chocolate mix from the counter. Bella turned on the heat and when it clicked, she noticed Edward's silence. It didn't make her uncomfortable, it made her curious.

No one was ever silent. They talked or shuffled or coughed. But, if it weren't for that feeling at the back of her neck, she would have forgotten he was there. She turned away from the burner and he was at the table, sitting and reading the newspaper with a serious expression. It would have been domestic if he didn't look so unhappy.

"What is it?" She asked.

He set the paper down. "I think I asked you that first," he said it with a quirk of his lips that rang false.

Bella started to say again that she was just having a hard day, but knew it would get her nowhere. She decided to prod, but first she turned and stirred the heating milk. "Do you ever get the feeling you're being lied to?" She faced him to watch his answer.

"Of course, I think we all do from time to time."

Behind her, she felt the tiniest lick of steam start to grow. "Right, but I mean by everyone. Like a whole group of people is keeping something from you?"

He nodded and she watched his Adam's apple bob. "I'm familiar with the feeling."

She stirred some chocolate mix into the milk and then turned the heat down to let it simmer.

"Is that happening with you right now?" His voice was soft.

"Yes."

He didn't mean to ask another question, but if he'd really wanted to, he could have stopped himself. "Do you think I'm lying to you?"

Bella took a long time to answer. She poured her hot chocolate into her mug and then let it warm her hands. She looked at him and could see the line they were both nearing with great caution. But there were answers on the other side and so she decided to cross it.

"No, not like the others, but you're keeping something from me." She didn't know where her forwardness came from when earlier she'd literally closed the book on it. It was a choice, she supposed - her choice - not to live in the dark anymore. And with everything this close, how could she not reach for it?

So she asked, "What were you doing at the high school the other night?"

"Eavesdropping, the same as you." The corner of his mouth lifted for a moment.

She took a sip from her mug to hide her embarrassment at being caught. Clearing her throat, she asked, "Do you know what that was?"

"Yes," he said, but said nothing further.

Bella waited and when her patience ran through she asked him to elaborate.

He hesitated and for the first time in a long time, didn't have the right words. "I – don't think you're ready to know."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's -,"

"Are you a part of it?" She set her mug, half finished, on the counter.

He shook his head and when she opened her mouth, he started talking. "I'm not. I'd like to be, but I'm not."

Bella switched gears and thought of her father and all the different ways he put himself on the line for other people. She was protective of Charlie by virtue of more than their biological connection, though she hardly knew him. "Is it dangerous?"

Edward could read the worry on her face as if she'd spoken it out loud, but he didn't want to lie. "It could be. But it's good, what they're doing – it's a good thing."

"Why aren't you a part of it?"

"My father doesn't think it's a good idea," he paused, remembering something from many years before. "He's a good man. He helps, a little, but he doesn't want to get too involved. He's a pacifist."

"And this group, it isn't – passive?" What was her father doing? It was good, but it was dangerous? She had this sudden and overwhelming fear that her father would be gone before she could know him.

Edward didn't want to tell her, but he didn't know anyone else he could talk to about it. And with Carlisle, things always ended in an argument and inevitable stalemate.

"It is, I mean, that's their goal. But getting there is going to be a challenge."

Bella turned and dumped her mug down the sink and then rinsed it out. She needed to keep her hands busy. She needed to think. She needed Edward to stop giving her partial answers. She washed her glass and set it on the rack to dry. "Is there anything you can give me a straight answer about?"

He thought about it until he realized the one thing he could say that Bella would care the most about. "They love your father; they won't let anything happen to him."

After a pause that left Bella without anything to say, Edward said he had to go. He followed her to the front door, and as he passed her to walk through it, he touched her wrist with his bare hand.

…

Bella looked at the newspaper, left open to the article she was pretty sure Edward had been reading: _Massacre __at __Mill__ Creek._ She rubbed the pulse point on her wrist where the iciness of Edward's touch still lingered.

Mill Creek, Washington was a suburb of Seattle. Two nights prior, there was an attack at an outdoor music festival. There was very little information, the article couldn't even say if it was one person, two, or an animal. One witness claimed it was a solitary man. She said he was naked and looked severely sick, but could give no better description. Another said it was more than one man. Police disclosed that there were teeth marks left on the bodies of the deceased, but that the throats were so badly injured it was impossible to say for sure if they were made by a human. They claimed to be pursuing all viable leads.

Awareness tickled up Bella's spine until it became a memory. She searched for the older newspapers on autopilot, hoping she'd know what she was looking for when she found it.

Bella grabbed the previous day's paper from the counter by the coffee pot. After a quick dig through the recycle bin, she found several more. She paged through them, focused and waiting for something to catch her eye. She saw it in the previous Monday's paper. A couple was hiking through Lord Hill Regional Park when they were attacked on a popular trail. It was very early in the day and they were alone, so police couldn't say what attacked them. The man suffered the worst of it, losing an arm before passing away.

A week before that, two teenagers were killed in Brewster, Washington. Two weeks before that, an entire family was killed outside Spokane.

Each article was a copy of the next. They couldn't say if it was man or animal and each victim's throat had all but been ripped out. And it appeared to be moving west. Forks was right in its path.

…

Bella made dinner for Charlie that night. She wanted to sit and visit and act like his daughter. But they were never in the same place at the same time. Charlie spent the evening grateful, but distracted. He offered to clean up, since she cooked, but Bella refused.

"Okay, well, I think I'm gonna go take in a meeting. If you don't need anything," he said.

She knew he was lying, but she said she didn't mind. "Have a good meeting, Dad." _Be __safe._

…

It was 3 o'clock in the morning when she figured it out.

_Those__ people_. They had pale skin that was cold to the touch. She remembered Charlotte's quick excuse for it the day they met. Their eyes were gold, black, violet. She thought of how that color made her nervous. They didn't eat. They were quiet, striking.

Bella opened the book Stefan gave her to the chapter titled _The __Cold__ Ones_. There were sketches of two faces, one male and one female. The man's hair was slicked back, but Bella knew if it was loose, the ends would curl. The woman's hair was pulled back on one side; it was curled on the other, like Veronica Lake.

They looked different, but the same, even in the simple colorless sketch. Bella read the description beneath the picture.

_Ephraim__ Black__'__s __sketch __of__ two__ Cold__ Ones__ encountered__ near__ modern __day__ Port __Angeles,__ 1941._

Bella wondered if they'd been there this whole time, or if they were back. The picture was of Peter and Charlotte. _Cold__ Ones_.

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks for reading :)

A quick note - Edward can't read Bella's mind.

Also, reviews get teasers.


	10. Nine: The Cold Ones

Nine: The Cold Ones

Bella looked around and found herself in the woods at one of the edges of Charlie's property. She wasn't sure which edge.

It was early, but her father was gone and she had to go to work soon. It was a commonplace reality that no longer fit with the reality she was now considering.

_It's not possible. _

It was 3 in the morning when those words first crossed her mind, she thought, and the excuses came quickly when she let them. She was working on no sleep. It was the remnants of her anxiety medication. She'd watched too many horror movies. The sketch only _resembled_ Peter and Charlotte. She was paranoid. She wasn't looking at all the information. She was losing her mind. She was right.

For all her logic, she knew it was true because she existed too. _How can I exist and this can't? _

Did everything exist?

"Cold Ones." The words pushed off her tongue and faded into the condensation of her breath.

She couldn't even think the other word for them, not yet at least. There was too much that came with that other word.

_Edward was a Cold One_.

A heavily weighted branch snapped over her head. She ducked at the sound and waited for it to fall, but it didn't. The clear dawn was clouding over and Bella could feel the mist on her face and now all she could think about was Edward. Her first friend in town, or whatever he was. Did he meet her to kill her?

Laughter bubbled past her lips, strange and hysterical. _Just my luck_.

…

She wanted to call in sick, but her paranoia was set high. Would they know she knew? Would they check on her? Would she even know if they were in her home?

After getting turned around once, she found her way back to the house. She got ready and was in the library parking lot within the hour. It took another seven minutes to get out and walk inside.

Bella startled at the sound of her name.

"Sorry." Peter appeared to her left.

"It's okay."

She told her hands, heart, and breath to be steady, but failed as the first hour of work turned into the next. Peter and Charlotte noticed. _I bet they notice everything_.

_Can they hear my heart beating?_ She slid a book onto a high shelf and wondered if Peter was looking at the tiny veins in her wrist. She wondered if Charlotte might be right behind her. She wondered if they could fly or turn into bats or mesmerize people. _How are they out during the day?_

But she never thought of leaving Forks. It was the way she operated. She'd made the choice to move there for the summer, made the choice to pry into something she shouldn't, and now she was making the choice to see it through. No matter where it led.

Charlotte sighed from somewhere nearby and then made a show of rustling a stack of papers. She didn't want to frighten Bella, who had been staring into a shelf of books for longer than Charlotte thought normal. But she could be wrong. Her mind wandered to herself and Peter. They had only moved to Forks the previous winter and before that, being around people had a very different significance. Regardless, staring at book spines like that couldn't be right.

Charlotte knew there had been an incident at Bella's university, but Charlie refused to discuss it with anyone. In the beginning, she found herself wanting to take care of the girl. But after that day, when Bella came in warm and pink cheeked, Charlotte had kept her distance.

She looked down and saw that she'd crumbled her papers beyond fixing. I'll have to re-print these, she thought. She cleared her throat, closer to Bella than she meant to be.

Coming out of her fugue, Bella grabbed a book off the cart and shelved it incorrectly in front of her.

"Bella?"

"Hmm?" She continued to shelve things out of order until it got on Charlotte's nerves and she touched the book in Bella's hand to stop her.

"Are you all right?" She pulled her hand back.

"I'm fine – maybe a little tired. I can't sleep sometimes…Oh…," she noticed her mistakes and started taking the books down again.

Charlotte tried, delicately, to give Bella the rest of the day off.

"It's - actually, I have some things to do. If you don't mind?"

"Not at all."

…

Stefan was at the counter. He'd heard Bella's rather noisy vehicle moving just slightly over the speed limit before the brakes screeched and it parked in front of his store. He opened a book in front of him and pretended to read.

Bella dropped a book on top of Stefan's open one.

"Why did you give this to me?"

He looked up pleasantly. "Bella, how nice to see you again." He smiled without teeth and adjusted the frames of his tinted glasses. Stefan and Vladimir both wore them sometimes because they agreed that their particular eye color might frighten people. Not that they didn't get enjoyment from the thought, but they also agreed that precautions should be taken for the sake of the town.

"The book?" Bella asked.

"Yes, the book, did you like it?"

She bit the inside of her mouth to keep from snapping at him. "Stefan -,"

"Yes?"

"Why did you give this to me?"

"Because I knew you'd understand it. That was what you were looking for, wasn't it?"

"How did you know -,"

He smiled at her again. "I can see it. When you've been around as long as I have, you learn to read people."

She had the urge to ask how long that was, but she quelled it. "…Why though?" Bella wanted to ask why me, but she hated the question. Better to move forward, her doctor said. "Why are you helping me?"

Vladimir appeared from a back doorway. "Are you saying that our motives are not entirely altruistic?" He walked over and stopped at the counter's edge.

Bella stood up straighter and looked at him. "I don't know what they are."

Vladimir liked the girl's fire - that was reason enough for him to show her the book. Stefan, however, saw that there was more to her than she showed. He could feel it like an extra sense, but what she was, he wasn't sure. "Because – it's time to get things moving."

"What things?" Her frustration was beginning to override her fear of what the men were capable of doing to her.

They looked at each other and then back at her. "I don't think the truth should come from us."

…

Water dripped off the dense tree branches from an earlier rainfall. Now, the clouds were patchy and thin, but the heavy trees blocked out what little light there was.

Bella walked down the trail. A fat drop of water landed on her cheek and she wiped it away. _Stupid, circle talking, unhelpful – Cold Ones_. She squeezed her hands into fists and fought a childish urge to stomp her feet. How much further? She thought.

Bella tripped on a gnarled root and her arms shot out to brace her fall. "_Shit_." Apparently, that was far enough.

Kneeling, she lifted a hand to inspect her palm. Scraped, but not quite bleeding. It was just as well. She sat back and sighed, tried counting her breaths. In on three, out on three; she usually did it when she was fighting off a panic attack.

"Are you all right?"

Bella gasped. "Edward? What the hell?"

His mouth opened, closed.

Cold One, she thought suddenly. And then she got angry.

Bella stood up, not bothering to wipe the dirt off her jeans. "What is with you all? Is sneaking up on people part of your M.O. or something?"

"I -,"

"No, I'm sick of everyone's lies and bullshit excuses. Why can't any of you just give me a straight answer?"

Edward took a backward step.

"Like, what are you doing out in the middle of the woods, Edward? Hmm? This is the part where you give me that stupid charming smile and then a half-ass answer that really doesn't answer anything."

"I'm sorry?"

"Are you not sure?" She took a step toward him.

"No – I was going for a walk. To clear my head."

"Why? Are all the secrets getting hard to keep straight?"

"No, I'm not keeping any secrets from you."

"Oh yeah? What's a Cold One, Edward?"

He opened his mouth and behind the surprise was the answer. _You know what we are_.

In truth, he hadn't heard the term in years. Not many outside of the Pacific Northwest even knew it.

Behind the answer he wanted to give her so badly were the half answers he'd been trained to give. At the moment, both fought to be told.

"That's – it's a name for a group. I mean, there are a lot of names, but that's one of them. -,"

"Are you one of them?"

_Why isn't she afraid? _He was used to people being afraid, even if they didn't know what he was. Bella was angry, frustrated, and impatient, but she wasn't frightened. She looked him in the eye and didn't flinch. He wanted to smile at that, but in truth, he was a little afraid of her.

More than that though, he'd come to respect her enough to answer. "Yes."

Now that Bella heard him say it, she wasn't sure what to do. Her mouth moved around the word, the other word. "Vampire." It was hardly audible to herself, but she knew he heard it.

She should be running, he thought.

Edward felt a slice of heat on his face. It ran sharply from his temple down his jaw to his neck. He should have moved, but he froze instead. _She sees it_.

Sunlight had pierced through the clouds. There wasn't enough to touch her yet, but the day was clearing.

Bella eyes moved to the bit of sun that hit Edward's face. _"What…?"_

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks to my pre-readers and to you guys. I've had no internet access at all for about a month, and that plus the holidays plus ridiculous personal drama equals giant writing time suck. So, if you're still out there, I'm super grateful!_  
_


	11. Ten: Interview with the Vampire

Author's Note: Last time - Bella knows about the existence of vampires and has confronted Edward in the woods, where they'd run into each other. Before they could make any decent headway on the subject, the sun came out. And now -

* * *

Ten: Interview with the Vampire

_What the fuck?_

Bella took a step closer and Edward took a step back. They did it again.

"Would you stop it?" She said.

He swallowed and stilled.

She got within a foot and raised her hand to touch him, but thought better of it. He would bolt, she knew. Instead, she looked at his face. _Was this real?_

There was a moment where she thought she was dreaming, or dead. But that would have been easy; if she was dreaming she could write this off. After she counted to ten, assured herself that she was awake, and had more or less decided she was mentally sound, Bella looked at Edward's face again.

She cleared her throat. "You're…sparkling?"

His eyes were closed and he made no move to open them.

"D-do you know that?"

His mouth twitched.

It's pretty, she thought, but didn't want to voice it. _It might be an affront to his masculinity. _She snorted.

"What?" He'd opened his eyes at the sound.

"Sorry, nothing."

She wasn't scared, he thought again. In fact, she was curious. _Almost smiling - at my expense, no doubt. _He decided to press his luck. "Would you like to take a walk with me?"

…

"Obviously – sunlight…,"

"Myth."

"Fangs? Garlic? Crosses?"

"Myth, myth, myth – holy water doesn't work either. You might call us a-religious."

"What about sleeping in coffins? Is that a myth too?"

"We don't sleep at all."

Bella regarded him a moment. "That's sad."

"Why?"

"Because you can't dream."

"I still dream." He glanced in her direction.

The walk was strange, and Edward's loss of common sense even stranger. He shouldn't be telling her anything. He could die for it. But Bella walked next to him, open and curious and amused by what he'd thought of for so long as a curse and he couldn't not tell her. And layered over his surprise at that was another thing - a feeling like nerves and static moving from his middle out to his fingertips when she was near. He liked her. Carlisle was going to have his head when he found out. Edward would have blushed had he been able.

"Can you fly?"

He grinned. "No, but I think I'd like that. We're very fast though."

"Can you hypnotize people?"

"No."

Bella tried to think of something else. Maybe she was dreaming after all.

"We can growl," he offered.

"What?"

"We growl. It's – it sounds different, than if a human did it, I mean." It was an angry, guttural, animal sound. The last time he used it was during a territory dispute with a small group of nomads. Later, Carlisle had called him temperamental.

"Can you purr too?"

He gave her a sideways look. "I'm not a cat, Bella."

"Can't you do anything cool?"

"What?" She was the oddest woman he'd ever met.

"I'm sorry…I'm processing…,"

"By being sarcastic?"

"Yes."

…

"So…you're fast…and you have the normal five senses, just heightened?" She'd slowed down their walk, recognizing now that he'd led her down a trail that began near her house.

She glanced at him, but his eyes were straight ahead. "Edward?"

"Most of us," he started. Compulsively, he scratched a non-existent itch near his forehead. "Some of us can do…a little more."

"Can you? Do a little more?" Bella had all but stopped walking.

"Yes, I can read minds."

Bella's thoughts panicked. _Oh, shit._

_ Wait, no. I didn't mean that._

_ Shit._

"But not yours," he said.

"What?"

"I've been able to read every mind I've ever come near, but I can't read yours."

"Oh…are you sure?"

"Positive, I've tried."

"What number am I thinking of?"

He sighed. "Bella -,"

"Humor me, please."

"Between what and what?"

"One and ten."

"Three." He answered blindly.

"No, nine. So, you can't hear anything? Not even a flicker?"

The corner of his mouth lifted. He could understand her paranoia. A person's mind was their last refuge. He couldn't help that his own pushed through the barrier as if it didn't exist.

"Nothing." He thought about it. "When I first met you, I thought you were just dim."

She huffed, smiling.

"That's hardly the case, obviously," he finished.

Bella and Edward walked in dappled sunlight, far enough off the street that the periodic glimmer of his skin went unnoticed. Though she couldn't stop looking at it, she didn't mention it again. Edward didn't appear to like it and, in fact, the sunnier it got the darker his mood became.

He'd been waiting for her to ask, for the entire walk he'd been waiting. It was the most important question, wasn't it? And the more he thought about it, the more it took over. Sometimes, the cage was flimsy, he thought. And, a few dozen yards from her house, its door rattled.

"Aren't you at all curious?" He asked.

"About what?" She was curious about everything. Bella had so many questions she'd forgotten half of them.

"Ask me about our diet."

Her fingers jumped to her neck and the carotid pulsed underneath them, Edward could feel it. "Your diet?" She asked. She put her hand down. _You won't hurt me_. It wasn't her voice exactly, but some variation inside that she believed.

"Blood, Bella. That part's true at least." He stilled and waited. He watched her face and said goodbye and made a promise to leave her alone.

"You won't hurt me."

"I wanted to, sometimes I still do." It was there all the time, not only with her, but with everyone. But the cage was strong most of the time.

"I don't think you will."

He wanted to change her mind, but he also wanted to believe her. "Let me walk you home."

…

That evening Charlie asked Bella about work. He complimented her efforts at dinner. He made idle chitchat and watched baseball and tossed three empty water bottles in the little blue recycle bin in the kitchen.

Bella watched him. He knew, she thought. He knew everything.

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks to my pre-readers and to all of you for putting up with my erratic posting schedule. I'm attempting the beginnings of a career change and a state-move in the hopefully not too distant future, and then there's a guy - sort of (isn't there always?).

But you're all my first loves and I can't leave you hanging forever!


	12. Eleven: Accident

Eleven: Accident

"What are you watching?"

Charlie wandered into the kitchen where Bella was cutting up an apple. The television was on in the living room and the DVD screensaver bounced idly.

"Interview with the Vampire," she answered. Her knife sliced cleanly through the apple, cutting it in half and then in half again.

Now that she knew, she had even less to say to her father. She was afraid he'd ask her about the weather and she'd blurt it out. _Vampires exist and you're working with them. What the hell are you doing? _Still, she tested her boundaries.

Charlie mumbled something and Bella glanced over her shoulder. "What – oh, oh _shit_." She pulled her hand to her chest and tried not to look at the blood.

Charlie was at her side before she could panic. He took her by the wrist, not because she let him but because she barely knew right from left at that moment. He turned on the faucet and put her hand under the water. The cut on her index finger was small, but deep.

"You're going to need stitches."

She made a noise indicating she'd heard him and was not pleased with the prospect.

Charlie grabbed her jacket off the back of a kitchen chair and slipped it over his daughter's shoulders. "You're going to be fine, Bells." She looked awfully grey. "Let's go."

"Go?" She asked.

"The hospital, let's go get you fixed up."

She let him lead her away and tried not to think of anything. Bella didn't know where her fear came from, her mother wasn't this way, but it existed nonetheless. She could smell the blood through the towel and feel the sick pulse and wetness near the joint of her finger.

"Want to take the cruiser? I'll turn on the siren."

"Huh?"

He grinned. "It was a joke."

"Oh."

They took the truck, no lights and no siren, just the loud rumble of the engine. He parked near the ER entrance and led Bella inside. To look at her, you'd think she was dying, Charlie thought. Her face was damp with sweat and her body was shaking. He'd never seen anyone react to a little cut like that. Still, he spoke to an ER nurse and had Bella ushered to a bed right away.

She sat heavily, her left hand raised to lessen the bleeding. She looked at her knees and focused on breathing in on three and out on three.

Charlie looked at the clipboard and forms in his lap. He filled in Bella's name, birthday, and social security number. He filled in his own address for hers.

_Allergies: _

He skipped that one and moved on to the next few questions. He wrote himself in as an emergency contact.

_Date of last flu shot:_

He glanced at Bella and then skipped the question.

_List all previous surgeries and dates:_

He moved to the next one.

_List any previous serious trauma or broken bones:_

He set the pen down and shifted his weight.

"Chief Swan," the doctor walked through a set of swinging doors. He smiled at Bella though she wasn't looking. "Sorry we have to meet under these circumstances. Can I take a look?"

"What?" She looked up and for a moment she was distracted from her pain. The doctor was handsome, unreasonably so, and Bella couldn't take her eyes from him. She looked at his eyes and he reached for her hand.

"Let's just see what we've got here." He unwrapped the towel and tilted her finger to get a better view. His hands were so cold.

"No!" she yanked her hand back and held it with the other.

The two men stared at her, Charlie in bewilderment, the doctor in understanding.

"Bells -,"

"No, it's all right." The doctor said. "I know how intimidating hospitals can be; maybe I should have introduced myself first. I'm Carlisle Cullen, I believe you've met my son," he offered his hand.

"Son," she whispered. But Edward wasn't his son, not really. Slowly, she put her good hand out. "Bella," she said, trying not to flinch at the temperature.

He met her eyes and nodded. "Pleasure to meet you." He let her go. "Now, may I see this other hand?"

…

Carlisle stitched Bella up quickly and with much greater accuracy than if an intern did it. He took pride in his work, large or small, and this cut would leave only the smallest trace of a scar, if that.

A nurse had given her a compress and already her color was returning. He studied her, much more subtly than she studied him. She knew about them, he understood. How she'd found out he wasn't sure, but he believed Edward might have had something to do with it. Carlisle was going to have to have a talk with him soon.

Bella was a sharp girl, he decided. She'd seen his eyes, his skin, felt the cold of his hand, and knew what he was. He wasn't sure if that lack of hesitation would help or harm her in the future.

Something would help her, he felt it when she shook his hand, but didn't know what it was. A mutation? He wondered and then a part of his mind went to the many possibilities and what they might mean for her. He wanted to test her DNA, her blood, but his deeply ingrained sense of right and wrong stopped him. He wouldn't do it without her permission. But wouldn't that be interesting. He wondered if she knew she was different, if she had presented or if she was only the carrier of something.

When he refocused he saw that she was looking at him again. He explained how to care for the cut and then sent her and Charlie on their way. There were notes at some length in his home office, they might be of no use to this new research, but Carlisle would start there.

…

Bella sat on the couch and watched her movie, but Lestat's grandeur was getting on her nerves. They had it all wrong, anyway.

She touched the sore and raised edge of her stitches and thought of Carlisle. He knew that she knew what he was and a part of her worried about that. But she didn't worry for her safety, she worried for his. She felt an urge to protect him, and Edward, from something though she didn't know what. They were all here for a reason; they were hiding from something. She saw it in the way they tried so hard to blend into the town.

"Hey Bells, feeling better?" Charlie had gotten rid of the remnants of her apple and washed the knife, then made Bella eat a little something. She'd been quiet since their return home, but looked less on the edge of passing out.

"Yeah, I'm all right."

Charlie stalled and tried to gauge her mood by looking at the side of her face, but it wasn't working. He was a leader in many things, but his only child intimidated the hell out of him. When he'd decided she was going to make it through the evening, he told her he was going to take in a meeting.

Bella told him she'd be fine, said goodbye, and then listened to the sounds of his leaving. He took the truck. After another few minutes of her movie, she turned it off.

_This is a bad idea_. But she was going to do it anyway.

…

Bella put her hands in her jacket pockets and tried to pace herself. She wanted to run, but she had to be late enough to bypass the stragglers.

Up ahead, she could see the spot where the trees thinned and the school appeared in the darkness. A car pulled into the parking lot and Bella stilled. If it was a vampire, they'd probably see her despite her efforts to hide.

A man got out and hurried toward a side entrance. She'd recognize the coat and hat anywhere; it was Henry, one of the library regulars. Human, she thought. She crept out from the shadows and checked the street – empty. She walked across the damp grass to the side of the parking lot and then slipped in through the side door. It was heavy, but she grabbed it before it could slam shut. Shh, she thought.

Bella ran her fingertips along the left wall, using it as a guide in the near pitch black. There were windows at the end, but the light didn't quite reach her end of the hallway. She wondered how Henry had made it through. Every so often, her hand slid over a door and every so often, her hand slid over something that felt like cobwebs. She heard nothing but the shuffling of her own feet over the dust and debris. She saw nothing but the dim shadow of her own hand. _Where was everyone?_

She stopped walking and tried to orient herself. The last time she was here, the meeting was at the back of the school in a room that faced the woods. But woods surrounded the school on three sides. And she'd come in from the side, not the front. _Which meant the back of the school would be…_

To the right, she thought, none too sure. Bella stepped away from the door she was touching to cross the wide hall. Her fingertips missed the reassurance immediately.

She put one hand out in front of her and at the same time another hand, a cold one, clamped tightly over her mouth.

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks to my pre-readers :) and to my right now readers.


	13. Twelve: The Prodigal Daughter

Twelve: The Prodigal Daughter

_Can't breathe._

It was the first thing Bella thought and the only thing that mattered. Her heart pounded and her hands gripped the one covering her mouth, but it was useless. She kicked, scratched, and tried to scream, but the vampire only used their other hand to grip her throat, effectively cutting off any sound she'd been about to make.

An angry voice hissed in her ear, _"Would you shut up?"_

Bella froze, her hands still gripping the arms of the one holding her captive.

"Are you going to scream if I let go?" The voice asked. It was female.

Bella shook her head as much as she was able. The hand around her throat released, but not the one over her mouth.

"I'm going to take you outside."

Bella's feet lifted off the ground and then she was flying. One second she was in the hall, the next she was dumped in the grass, doubled over and gasping.

She coughed until she thought she might get sick.

"Oh, you're fine," the voice said, irritated now.

Bella took in one slow breath and felt the coolness of the earth against her hands and knees. Dimly, she could make out high heeled boots and the dark hem of jeans in front of her. She looked up at long legs, bare arms folded stiffly, and a fierce, angry gaze.

"Would you mind telling me why you were spying?" The woman asked.

Bella tried to speak, but it came out croaking and incomplete. She coughed again. _In on three, out on three. _Somewhere on her left, there was a breeze.

"What the fuck are you doing?" This voice was male and familiar.

Bella rubbed her watering eyes and sat up on her knees. The two figures were arguing. In the moonlight, it was a wonder anyone took them for human.

"That's Charlie's _daughter._" The man said.

"Edward?" Bella asked.

He turned his face to her, his eyes taking in her body for signs of injury. He went back to his argument with the woman. "He could have your head for this."

"How the hell was I supposed to know? I've been gone, not that you cared. Besides, Charlie's kid was off limits; I didn't even know what she looked like."

"It won't matter when he finds out -,"

"Jesus, Edward, I didn't even know what she was -,"

He gave her a sharp look and then their voices changed. It was too quiet and too fast and Bella couldn't keep up.

She stood slowly on wobbly legs and cleared her throat. "I'm standing right here," she said.

They stopped their conversation and looked at her. Edward took a few steps forward. He didn't look angry anymore, he looked nervous. "Bella, I'd like you to meet my sister, Rosalie. I mean, she's not technically," he felt a compulsive urge to explain, but was cut off.

"He means we have the same maker. Can I at least assume you know what we are?"

Bella nodded.

"Okay, good. Now, what are you?"

"Rosalie -,"

Bella wanted more than anything to be surprised by the question. "I don't know."

"She's a human," Edward said, coming to Bella's side.

"Not entirely." Rosalie looked her up and down as if she could deduce it right there. After a second more, she lost interest. "Charlie's expecting me."

With that, she was gone.

Edward wanted to touch Bella. He wanted to tilt her head back and look at her neck where the lightest kiss of red blossomed in the shape of Rosalie's fingertips. He wanted to check her shaking hands, her face, everywhere. Instead, he asked if she was all right.

"Yeah, your sister's quite amiable."

He smiled at that.

"I met your – father today too."

"You did?"

She raised her hand to show him the cut and explain what happened. Most of the way through her story, he touched the raised edge of her stitches. Bella swallowed and lost track of what she was saying. She finished quickly and then took her hand back.

His skin felt cold, just like Carlisle's and Rosalie's. But he felt good.

Bella shook herself out of it. The night hadn't gone at all as she'd planned, but the questions were still there and the answers were still somewhere. "Edward, we need to talk."

He nodded. "I think we should go to my house first."

"Why?"

"Carlisle's there. He's been around much longer than I have; I think he'll have the answers you need."

…

Edward's car was parked downtown. "We live about 15 miles outside of Forks," he explained.

Bella asked if he could move fast too, like Rosalie.

He kept his eyes on the road and said he was faster. He expected her to judge him for it, as if his morality and value were wrapped up in his answer, but she wasn't fazed.

"So why even have a car?" She asked.

"Well, it's conspicuous, especially during the day. And I really like to drive."

At the edge of town, Edward called Carlisle to tell him they were coming. He spoke at normal volume, but glanced at Bella twice during the short conversation. He wanted to speak freely, but he knew when he did it faster than she could understand, it irritated her.

Carlisle's home was set back on several acres of land. He bought it in a fit of optimism a few decades before for a family he now believed he would never have. His daughter and one of his sons had left, and Edward only used it as a retreat when he wasn't sure what he was doing with the current incarnation of his life.

He sat in his office and listened to the dim sounds of Edward's car on the road. Edward had taken a liking to Bella and Carlisle was curious about their bond. As far as he knew, their strange and sometimes uncomfortable friendship was as far as either had gone. For all his years, Edward was immature in matters of the heart. Carlisle would have smiled at that if he wasn't the same way and many years older.

When they pulled into the drive, Carlisle went to the entryway and opened the door, remembering at the last minute to turn on some lights on the way. He nodded at them both. "Good to see you again, Bella." He noticed the marks on her neck, but didn't mention them.

She had some trouble meeting his eye. She knew what he was, he knew that she knew, and now she felt like an interrogator coming into his home. But she feared for her father, more than she recognized on that night.

The two men let her enter first. The foyer was twice as large, at least, as her last dorm room. Bella expected others to be waiting, but the echo of her own footsteps greeted her instead.

"The living room is through here," Carlisle said. "It might be more comfortable." He remembered that humans would probably like to sit for a conversation like this. Edward often forgot such trivialities, but passed it off as social awkwardness.

The living room was decorated nicely though it looked more like a model home than a real one. But the couches were soft and once Carlisle got a fire going, it didn't look quite as lonely. Bella sat down nearest the fire and Edward sat across from her. "Rosalie's back," he said.

Carlisle turned his back to the fire. "She is?" He swallowed the hope he felt at the news. Rose was an unruly and rebellious woman. Sometimes he felt she resented him for turning her, but he didn't regret doing it. He was proud of her fire and didn't begrudge her for leaving. She needed a purpose and a cause. He understood that.

Carlisle looked at Bella's neck again. She put her hand up and touched one of the marks; it was bruising quite nicely. Anger flared, he'd taught his daughter better than that. The Cullen's didn't harm humans.

"I assume that was her doing?" He said, motioning to Bella's neck. "I apologize, that isn't like her."

"Felt like her," Bella said before she could censor herself.

"Perhaps we should start at the beginning." Carlisle said.

Bella and Edward took turns relaying the story of that evening and, further back, Bella told him how she figured out what they were. "I don't know exactly," she said. "I just knew you were different."

"You seem to be taking it in stride," he said.

She shrugged. More than vampires existed, she thought. "So, Rosalie, she's your – daughter?"

"That's right. She's been gone for two years now, I had no idea she'd be back ever, let alone tonight." After a moment, he added, "what about Emmett?" Rose would never be too far from his side.

"I don't know," Edward said. "He wasn't anywhere nearby as far as I could tell."

"Who's Emmett?" Bella asked.

"Rosalie's mate."

"My other son," Carlisle said at the same time.

But it was Edward's answer that Bella heard. "Mate?"

"Um," was his reply.

Carlisle looked at him; he rarely stumbled on his words. "We can discuss that later. Emmett is Rosalie's husband, for lack of a better word."

Bella nodded, but wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon. Mate was a strange word.

"So, you want answers. I can give them to you, but I should say that once you know everything, you're involved. Whether you want to be or not." Carlisle explained.

"I'm already involved." Bella was steadfast. Her father was a part of this and so were people she cared about, people she was just beginning to care about.

Carlisle nodded. "All right then."

* * *

Author's Note: Thank you to my pre-readers and my present readers; you guys make it better.


	14. Thirteen: Operation Paperclip

Thirteen: Operation Paperclip

"It started as a governmental pet project. I wish I knew which President came up with the idea, but I don't."

_The government? _

"Around World War II, they started taking it seriously. I'm not sure how much you remember from history classes, but after the war, Germany was devastated.

It was brilliant really, what happened. I mean, if you think about it. The U.S. went in and took their scientists. Some had such incredible minds and of those, some were also monsters. I'm sure you've learned about what happened in the camps," Carlisle paused, thinking back on that time and the regret that still lingered. "Never again," he mumbled. "Isn't that what they say?"

"They offered the scientists asylum on American soil on one condition – they worked for them now. And they took the deal, all of them. The government erased their histories and all affiliations with the Nazi party and gave them new lives…,

Have you heard of the project MK-ULTRA?"

Bella shook her head.

"It was a mind control experiment. There were many of them during this time; some of that information has gone public now. They drugged unwilling participants, gave people STI's without their knowing, there was so much abuse - they even ventured into mind reading. Anyway, this started as a part of that first project, but it became so big they gave it a name on its own – The Thassos Project.

They started studying us." Carlisle gestured toward himself and Edward. "Vampires." He so rarely used the word, it felt fumbling and foreign coming out of his mouth.

"They don't consider us human and I suppose we're not, but we were once. They operate above and outside the law; there's no checks and balances there. It's – gotten out of hand."

"Out of _hand?_" Edward stood up. "It's genocide, Carlisle."

In the firelight, Edward looked dangerous. He stood off with his father, who brooked no argument in return.

"They're killing us off," Carlisle continued, glancing once more at his son as if to say - _There, are you happy now?_ "The older ones. We can't be controlled the way the newborns can."

"Newborn?"

"A new vampire. They're creating them, they have been for a while though I'm not entirely sure how." Carlisle lost the thread of conversation for a moment. He knew so much, but there was always more that was a mystery to him.

The room was quiet save the crackling of the fire.

_They're killing us off._

"What about my dad?" Bella asked. It was the only thing that mattered.

Edward sat down again to give Carlisle the floor.

He hesitated. He didn't want to scare her anymore. He didn't want it to be real, but it was and Charlie was a part of it. He was a leader. Charlie was the bravest man Carlisle had ever known.

"Your father found out about us, I don't know how. I wasn't living here yet. But he did." He paused. "Are you sure you want to hear this from me? I think it would be better coming from your -,"

"Tell me." Charlie would only try to protect her from it and Bella wanted all of the truth.

Carlisle smiled. She was so much like her father. "All right. When the vampires started learning about the genocide, they started moving. Most of us are nomadic; it's easier that way since our appearances don't change. But some of us like to stay put for as long as we can; I fall into this category.

So, even the non-nomadic groups started moving. A few came here, and then a few more. This town is small, it's quiet, but best of all, it's the rainiest city in the country. Do you know what happens to our skin in the sunlight?"

"She saw," Edward said.

"We're safe here. When Charlie found out the truth, he opened the town up to us. There are more of our kind here than yours. But Charlie's organized and he's just; we follow his rules."

"Rules?" Bella echoed. She couldn't believe they were talking about her father. He was the same man that forgot to call her on her eighteenth birthday, the same one that barely looked her in the eye still.

"They mostly deal with staying hidden – not drawing attention to yourself. And, there's another one, the most important one – we're not to hurt humans -,"

"But, I thought…," Bella wasn't sure what she thought. Vampires drank blood, Edward had told her as much.

"You didn't tell her?" Carlisle directed at Edward. She had been alone with him how many times now? And she wasn't scared? He was afraid now that he'd underestimated Bella Swan.

"We drink from animals only. Edward and I have been doing so for many years, but some people in the town struggle. We all do the best we can."

…

Carlisle decided to take a small break. Bella's face would be ashen had it not been for the heat from the fire and he was worried at what this inundation would do to her. He was changing her world, he knew.

"Would you like some water?" He asked. It was all they had, aside from a carton of orange juice that had long expired.

"No, thanks."

"I need something from my office; I'll give you a minute." Carlisle moved out of the room at a human pace.

"Bella," Edward started. He was treating her like a frightened deer.

"I just need to be alone, okay?"

He said he'd go up and find Carlisle.

Bella turned toward the fire and warmed her hands. She stretched her feet forward to do the same. It was nice. It was a quiet night and the couch was so soft and she could sink right into it. If she were to walk outside, she'd see the stars. The world was big, she understood that now.

And this was too big. And she knew there was more truth to tell.

Carlisle and Edward waited upstairs until Edward could hear Bella's heartbeat return to normal. When it had, they waited another minute before venturing downstairs. Carlisle felt the same stirring of intimidation he suspected his son felt around this girl. He couldn't say where it came from, only that it was a vibration of nerves in the pit of his stomach when she was near. It came from not knowing, he believed, of what untapped ability she had inside her.

Once they were back within the warmth of the living room, Bella asked, "What else is my father doing?"

Carlisle resumed his place by the fire. While it didn't make his skin warm, it at least took the edge off. "For the last two years or so, Charlie has made a group within the group. Rosalie is a part of it, several others too. They've decided to form an offensive front. It's the one thing Charlie and I disagree most strongly about -,"

"And you and I," Edward added.

Carlisle acknowledged this and moved ahead. "They call themselves The Resistance."

Edward wanted to jump in, but there was something in the distance that had caught his attention. Footsteps, too fast to be human, and more than one set. The others knew Carlisle's property was off limits.

"Do you hear that?" Edward asked, standing.

Carlisle listened. He heard two people, one much closer to the house than the other. The closer one was loud, pounding, and familiar. "Who's the other one?"

He stood shoulder to shoulder with his son and strained his mind for some sense of familiarity, but there wasn't any.

Edward shook his head.

Bella stood, backing up and away from them instinctively. "What's going on?"

She heard nothing and then a door she couldn't see blew open. It slammed back against the wall and then bounced off the frame. First there was the registration of the sound, and then there was another man in the room.

"Help," he said.

Carlisle heard the moment the other set of footsteps went quiet. "Where?" He was already following his son to the door.

"Too close, he's here." To Bella's eyes, they disappeared.

She took a step forward and Edward blocked her. The plea was in his eyes, but not his words.

"Stay here."

And then he was gone too.

* * *

Author's Note: Thank you to my pre-readers and my right now readers :)

Author's Note the Second: Operation Paperclip was a real thing; it's pretty brilliant in a sick way.


	15. Fourteen: Strangers

Fourteen: Strangers

Bella looked at the empty place Edward had occupied seconds before. She looked in the direction they'd run. She remembered his pleading look and his order for her to stay put.

"Like hell."

…

_Bella studied the map on her computer. Red markers connected in a jagged line moving west across Washington._

_ Spokane to Brewster to Lord Hill Regional Park to Mill Creek. How many people had died at each stop?_

_ She looked at that morning's newspaper and saw that there was a new killing in Port Angeles. The paper said it could have been a botched mugging, but the violence was extreme. She added the location to her map. She wondered if her dad knew about this. She wondered if he had a map of his own._

…

The door they left by wasn't difficult to find. It hung awkwardly open, the top hinge mangled and separated from the frame. She squeezed through the space, worried if she touched the door it would fall.

Bella found herself on a back patio with only the breeze for company. The night air was cold and silent. There were shadows on either side of her and out in front, the woods blotted out what light there might have been in the distance. She stepped forward until she was off the patio and on the grass.

The dampness was cold on her feet. It went up her ankles and rooted her halfway between the house and the forest. She wanted to call out, but she wasn't supposed to be there. Edward, she thought, where are you?

She walked through the grass until it became long and the darkness grew. There were trees around her, some she couldn't quite make out as anything more than shadow. She moved forward with her hands out, searching by the dim moonlight for her companions.

_Too close, he's here. _ The stranger had said.

He was here. How dangerous was he that he required three vampires to fight him off? The stranger alone was big and broad, but he looked hurt. Like he'd been beaten and healed over and over again. She remembered the heavy in and out movements of his chest and wondered if vampires needed to breathe or if it was habit.

In the distance, something growled and Bella shrank back. She looked down and strained her ears for the source. She heard it again to her left, a wolf, she guessed.

She remembered something Edward told her. _We can growl_. She took a single step in that direction, and then another. Ahead of her, something crashed. Like a car hitting a tree. Or a vampire. She sped up.

"_Emmett, now," _Edward yelled. She heard more growling. Ripping. Bella saw the aftermath of a train accident once; she imagined the screaming of it going off the rails sounded something like this. Sometimes it sounded human, sometimes it didn't.

Bella made it to the outskirts of a clearing, but stayed in the shadows. In front of her were four men: Edward, Carlisle, the stranger, and another. He was feral. He snapped his teeth at the stranger's neck. He twisted and kicked and fought for his life. His movements were sharp, but the stranger held fast. He shoved his own body down to the ground, pinning the feral one, but just barely.

Bella stared in horror. The feral one was missing an arm.

In the moonlight, his skin glowed. She looked, expecting viscera, but there wasn't even blood. His muscles tensed and released and Bella knew he would never tire. They would have to kill him first.

"Lighter -,"

"Edward, _no_," Carlisle yelled. He grabbed his son by the arm and pulled him back. The lighter was in Edward's hand, already lit. Carlisle grabbed at it, snuffing out the flame. "We can't -,"

"We don't have a choice -,"

"Well let's just fucking _debate_ this for a while." The stranger growled. He struggled in the dirt and it was plain to see he was losing ground.

Carlisle ran to him at the same moment the feral one got free. It was fast, too fast. Bella couldn't see what happened.

She stood frozen, her eyes struggling to focus on the blurring vampires in front of her. They were there one second and in the next, they were everywhere. Bella blinked and looked down, feeling dizzy.

"_Oh_," she said, her sight coming back. She stared at the deep grass a couple of feet in front of her. Something was moving, twitching. "_Oh_," she said again. His arm.

Edward looked up for a split second, distracted. Bella was out there.

The feral one broke free from them all. He had to get back into the woods; he could lose them in the woods. He had to find the man. The man would help. But there was something here. He inhaled.

Someone slammed into him, hard. And then he was rolling, end over end. There were hands on his shoulders, knees jammed into his hips. They flew together over the clearing. He had no control. It made him dizzy. He would vomit from it if he could. One more turn and his upper body was shoved back into the ground. His head hit a rock and for a second he remembered what it felt like to bleed.

On top of him, her fingers still dug into his shoulders, was the woman. "_No_," she said.

He breathed hard. He liked the way it felt. He could smell the others and, a little further away, he could smell the girl. Taste her. He twisted his neck, trying to look back.

The woman punched him in the jaw. "No," she said again.

He held his breath. He didn't know why. He closed his eyes.

_I'll come back for you._ The air left his lungs hard.

_Don't leave me here._

_ I'll come back for you. I promise._

He bit back a sob and the woman's hands loosened. In the distance, he heard someone coming closer, but it didn't matter. One of the strangers started to speak, but the woman stopped him.

She raised a hand to his hair and pushed it back from his forehead. "You're okay," she murmured.

He opened his mouth, but his throat closed. He tried again, but choked.

"It's okay," she said again.

He shook his head hard. "I left her." He managed. And inside, he said her name.

…

When the feral one broke free, Edward ran to Bella. He pushed her behind himself and prepared for an attack that never came. The woman appeared from nowhere and thought only of saving the one they were about to kill.

The man's thoughts were of pain. Of steel and suits and blood and death. And her face. Edward didn't know why, but hearing the thought made his heart hurt.

He turned around and pulled Bella into his arms. Her own stayed at her sides, but the loss he felt was absolute and it was okay that she wasn't touching him because he was touching her and she was still there. Edward hugged her as gently as he could manage and pressed his face to her hair. "I am so mad at you," he whispered. But he didn't let go.

…

Carlisle and Emmett watched the man and woman in front of them. Emmett's hands itched for his cell phone, but it was destroyed in all the fighting. It was his only connection to Rosalie until she returned to the house and he felt it like a severing.

His body tensed. He had to see her. He had to make sure she was okay. He looked at the man again. He posed no threat anymore. He was grieving, Emmett thought, he was grieving the loss of the one he loved the most. Emmett took a step away. "Carlisle?" He asked.

"Go on," he answered.

Carlisle watched the woman murmur to the man, calming him down. He wanted to ask if she needed help, but she would not be bothered. So he waited nearby, just in case. After a while, he took a step closer, but was met with sharp golden eyes. _No further_, it was clear enough. He stopped.

The man was sobbing, Carlisle saw. He wished that vampires could cry tears; he wished often for the release of grief.

"I left her," the man was saying. "I left her, I left her, I left her."

Carlisle looked to the grass and waited while the man's sobs cut so hard through the air that even the breeze seemed to quiet down and be still for them.

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks to my pre-readers and my present readers, always much better because of you.


	16. Fifteen: John Doe

**Last time on The Thassos Project** - Bella met Rosalie when she was caught spying on her father at the school. Edward intervened and took Bella to Carlisle for answers. There she found out that her father has given vampires asylum in the small town of Forks, provided they keep their true nature a secret and don't harm humans. Charlie has also formed another group called The Resistance, but before Carlisle can explain it, Emmett appears.

The three men leave Bella in the house to capture what they believe is a feral vampire. With the help of a female stranger, they take him down mostly uninjured. We get a glimpse inside his mind and discover he is not feral at all, but heartbroken and desperate to save someone he left behind.

...

Fifteen: John Doe

"I'm taking you home." Edward said.

Bella pulled back. "Not after this." Was she supposed to go to bed? It was late. It crossed her mind that she should call her father, but she didn't.

"Bella -,"

"You -,"

"Let her stay." Carlisle said quietly. Bella missed the executive decision, but saw Edward let the argument go. Carlisle was still the leader of the often fractured coven.

"Can I take you inside, at least? That man is still a threat."

Bella nodded, looking once more at the man in the grass. He was quiet now and looked up from the ground toward the sky. She wondered what he saw, sure it wasn't the stars.

…

Carlisle cleared his throat though he had no need to play at being human. He started to say something, but then changed his mind and asked the woman if they were all right.

"We'll be fine, thank you for not killing him."

"What will you do now?" He asked.

She sat back in the grass, but held the man's remaining wrist with one hand. "Clean him up, get us to somewhere safe."

"It's safe here." Carlisle said.

"I noticed there seem to be a lot of us around this town. Why?" She kept her eyes down, kept her hope down. There were rumors of a town and of a group, but she didn't think any of it really existed. Maybe she had in the beginning, but there were a lot of rumors.

"We're protected." He wasn't sure how much information to give. "There's a man, we'll have to talk to him, but I'm sure he'll let you stay."

"I'll think about it. Do you know where I can get him some clothes?"

"I have a house, its close by and my son is about the same size as…,"

"I don't know his name," she admitted. "He -,"

"62497A1," the man whispered. "62497A1."

The woman continued, "They tried tattooing the numbers on them, but the ink doesn't stay. I don't think he remembers his name. You have a house?"

"Yes, but there's a girl there, she's human. I need to know she'll be safe."

"She'll be fine, I've got him now. He's a good man."

"Okay."

The woman talked to the man quietly, almost too quietly for Carlisle to hear. She told him it was time to get up and that she'd take him somewhere safe.

He sat up. "I need to find -,"

"I know, we will, but this first."

Carlisle called Edward and told him to take Bella to the third floor. When he looked up from his call, the man was holding his own severed arm. "I can fix that for you."

The man looked at it, turned it one way and then the other, but didn't answer.

"The house is this way," he directed at the woman.

The group walked and Carlisle grew uncomfortable with the silence. He wasn't typically, but the new people made him anxious and curious. There was a lot he didn't know.

"What should I call you?" He asked.

She walked another few paces and her companion looked up from examining his arm. He was quiet now, but felt something familiar. He thought of her, so far away still, and looked down.

"Esme," she said.

Carlisle nodded at the space ahead of him. "Esme."

…

They took the man to the basement. He hadn't lost a limb in a long time, but he remembered what it felt like. Letting someone else fix it was strange and he was impatient. He had to get to the man. It wasn't just a rumor. It was true and it was his only hope.

He smelled the girl, but didn't want her. Not anymore than he wanted any other human.

…

"What's going on?" Bella asked, impatient at her useless senses.

"He's fixing the man's arm downstairs. We need to keep you two separated, just in case." He stood between her and the doorway, not to keep the man out, but to keep her in.

"Who were they?"

"The big one was my brother Emmett. I don't know the others."

"Can vampires cry?" She asked suddenly.

"No."

But he was crying, she thought. He'd cried and Edward had hugged her and there was an arm in the grass and her father was a hero and Bella wanted a pill. She was glad not to be home. She could see them in her drawer and knew they'd make everything a dream.

"Bella?"

She glanced up.

"I asked if you needed anything."

"No."

…

Carlisle gave the man a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He wanted to let the man shower, but he didn't seem to like the water. Esme dressed him.

"Foot," she said, slipping one leg through and then the other. She did the button and the zipper before unfolding the shirt. "Arm's up."

He was quiet and obedient. He kept his eyes on his feet and the carpet. It was soft, he was sure that was the right word. He pushed one foot down into the deep pile and then the other.

"He's never worn regular clothes before," Esme said. "Something like a hospital gown sometimes, but never clothes." Unless they were showing him off, she thought. "Let's sit down," she said to the man. He sat straight down from where he was standing.

Esme kneeled and began pulling leaves and other debris from his hair. She ran her fingers through his hair; she thought he might like it.

"What do you call him?" Carlisle asked. It bothered him that he had a number instead of a name.

"I don't call him anything."

The man pulled his head away from Esme's hands. "No," he said. "You don't do that." _Only she does that. _

She stood up and let him sit on the floor at their feet. "Sorry," she said quietly.

"John?" Carlisle said. "Christopher?" That was a nice name.

Esme looked at him. "Christopher?"

He shrugged. "A man should have a name."

The man shook his head. He could hear them though he only paid the vaguest attention. But still, Christopher wasn't right and neither was John. He had a memory of being a child, of dry grass, bare feet, and someone calling to him to come inside. The name had been erased, but he could hear the sound of his mother's voice. He hummed it, the way it seemed in his head. "Hmmm-hmm," his voice was like air. He did it again.

"Is there something you'd like to be called?" Carlisle asked.

The man thought of summer, or what he thought might have been summer. He couldn't remember what wheat was anymore, but his mother told him his hair turned the color of wheat in the August sunlight. His nose would get red and it would hurt. He wondered if this was many days he was remembering or only one.

Carlisle thought of other names. Matthew and Thomas and Paul. They were all from the Bible. Some habits were hard to break.

Esme wondered about Carlisle's humanity and how long he'd been a vampire. He was old, she could tell that much. He was also kind and open and curious, she knew that too.

"So, what now?" He asked.

"I'm not sure. This is the first time he's been still in weeks."

"Is he looking for something?"

"Not something, someone."

Carlisle asked who, though he already had an idea.

"The rumors are everywhere. Those in the East say there's a haven in the West, in the West they say it's in the East. The one he heard is about a man somewhere nearby. He keeps our kind safe. Some people say he's raising an army."

Carlisle wanted to keep the town's secret, but he couldn't lie to her. And he knew the man wouldn't be going far. He'd figure it out. "It's here," he said. "There's a man in charge -,"

"Where?"

Carlisle had almost forgotten the man on the floor. He was standing now, ready to move.

"You should know," he started. "He's human. He has a life here." Part of that life was sitting in his son's bedroom.

"Human?" Esme asked.

"I can take you to him."

…

Once the man, in Carlisle's head he called him John, knew that he was close he refused to stay put. Esme was keeping him in the basement, but he wouldn't listen to her for long. Carlisle wasn't sure what kind of relationship they had, but he could see that John respected her above others and it was that thin grasp that kept him in the house.

He went upstairs to talk to Edward out of respect for Bella. It would make Edward angry, no doubt, but Bella deserved to know what was happening. He knocked from habit and then opened the door.

"I'm taking them to talk to Charlie."

Edward was already angry, having heard the tenor of Carlisle's thoughts as he climbed the stairs, and before that, in the basement.

_You can't keep secrets from her, even to protect her. If you like her – _

Edward nodded, if only to stop Carlisle from finishing his thought. "Will you call and have him meet you somewhere; I don't want that man knowing where Bella lives."

"Fair enough, but I don't think he'll hurt anyone else, especially with us around."

"He's staying here?" Edward asked, forming arguments in his head.

"Yes." _It's not up for debate. _

"I'm coming with you." Bella said, coming to stand with them. "It's not up for debate."

Despite being against the idea, the corner of Edward's mouth lifted at her choice of words.

"It's either that or I'm going to blurt it out over breakfast or something, so I'm going with you." She continued.

Carlisle nodded. "You and Edward can follow us. I'll ask him to meet us at the old school."

The small group agreed and walked down the stairs. It was time to wake Charlie.

* * *

Author's Note: Writer's block has been defeated, at least momentarily. Thank you for still following this story, it's still the most fun I've ever had writing for the fandom.


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